Far right parties typically oppose the European Union, yet European integration has paradoxically provided the far right with funding, visibility and a higher degree of credibility and respectability. Drawing on the case of the French Rassemblement National, Marta Lorimer explains how the EU may have inadvertently facilitated the success of some of its strongest critics.
Far right parties are strong […]
Florian Philippot, one of the most influential figures in France’s Front National, resigned from his position on 21 September amid tensions over the future direction of the party. Marta Lorimer explains what led to his decision and assesses where it leaves Marine Le Pen as she attempts to reform the Front National following disappointing results in the French presidential […]
Following the election of Emmanuel Macron in May, French voters will be called to elect their new parliament on 11 and 18 June. While legislative elections are often considered to be ‘second order elections’ in the French system, Marta Lorimer argues that this year’s elections will be particularly important because they will determine whether Macron will have the parliamentary […]
Emmanuel Macron is the new President of France, but having won the presidency, he now faces the daunting task of securing a majority in the country’s upcoming legislative elections. Marta Lorimer writes that although early opinion polling has been encouraging for Macron’s ‘En Marche!’ movement, the campaign will present a number of major challenges.
French voters will go back to the […]
France held the first round of its presidential election on 23 April, with Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen making it to the second round. The centrist Macron is projected to have won 23.8 percent of the vote, while the Front National’s leader Le Pen came second with 21.5 percent. For the first time since the 1970s, no candidate from […]
The French presidential campaign has been a rollercoaster of twists and turns so far. But with just a few days to go until the first round of voting on 23 April, does the contest have further surprises in store? Marta Lorimer outlines the possible scenarios and highlights the issues you should keep an eye out for.
A four horse race? Photo: The […]
With the selection of Benoît Hamon as the candidate for the Socialist Party, the field for the 2017 French presidential election is broadly set. Marta Lorimer writes on the candidacy of Emmanuel Macron, who is running under the banner of a new progressive movement – En Marche! – and is currently receiving significant support in opinion polls. She argues that […]
François Fillon has been selected as the French centre-right’s candidate for the 2017 presidential election. But with the nomination secured, what challenges lie ahead? Marta Lorimer suggests that although Fillon’s programme proved popular with voters in the primary, he may need to broaden its appeal to have similar success in the presidential election itself.
On 27 November, the two-month race […]
On 20 and 27 November, the French right will select its candidate for the 2017 presidential election. While formally a seven candidate race, polls indicate that the real battle is between former president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime minister and mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppé. Marta Lorimer discusses the polls and the variables likely to shape the final result.
The […]
Several French parties, including France’s largest centre-right party, Les Républicains, will select their candidate for the 2017 French presidential election in a primary to be held in November. With the official campaign set to kick-off on 21 September, Marta Lorimer discusses the main contenders and their programmes ahead of the vote.
As France’s presidential election approaches, the main French parties […]
On 23 April and 7 May 2017, French citizens will vote for President François Hollande’s successor. While in most cases the names of the official candidates are yet to be disclosed, several leading political figures have already announced their intention to run in the election. Marta Lorimer discusses the possible candidates and what recent polling says about their chances.
On […]
The Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group was formed in 2015 as a collaboration between Eurosceptic and anti-immigration parties in the European Parliament, including Marine Le Pen’s Front National, Italy’s Lega Nord, Vlaams Belang from Belgium, the Freedom Party of Austria, and Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom. Marta Lorimer writes on the first convention held by the ENF […]
France held the first round of voting in regional elections on 6 December, with the Front National emerging as the party with the largest vote share. Marta Lorimer writes that the elections were a blow for both François Hollande’s Socialist Party and the Republicans, led by Nicolas Sarkozy. She notes that with doubts being raised over whether the left […]
How will the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November affect domestic politics within France? Marta Lorimer assesses the reactions from the country’s main political parties. She writes that while the previous terrorist attacks in Paris in January resulted in a display of political unity, the united front following the November attacks has been much shorter lived. Although some […]
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Eurosceptic or Euro-ambivalent? Understanding the positions of far right parties on Europe
Eurosceptic or Euro-ambivalent? Understanding the positions of far right parties on Europe
Most contemporary far right parties oppose European integration, but is Euroscepticism a natural complement to far right ideology? Marta Lorimer writes that while we now tend to see far right parties as Eurosceptic, this was not always the case. Drawing on an analysis of the Italian Social Movement and French Front National, she demonstrates that ambivalence is an important […]