A majority of supporters of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) are in favour of a proposal to form a united right-wing coalition ahead of June’s French parliamentary elections.
Around three-quarters of supporters of Le Pen’s National Rally are favourable to a right-wing coalition, according to a poll taken by the firm Ipsos released this week.
The majority of French people, 57 per cent, are also positive about the idea of the main parties forming alliances for the June parliamentary elections, with 93 per cent of the supporters of Eric Zemmour backing the proposal.
Zemmour, a writer and television pundit turned French presidential candidate, made his case for an alliance between his party Reconquest, the RN and other conservative parties ahead of the election, stating that such a bloc would win more votes than Presiden Emmanuel Macron’s party.
According to Zemmour, a united right would win as many as 12.54 million votes, while the RN alone would win just over 8 million and would trail behind President Macron.
A poll from Harris Interactive estimated that a united right-wing bloc could pick up as many as 117 to 147 seats in the French Chamber of Deputies, while the RN would be likely to pick up 75 to 105. In both scenarios, however, Emmanuel Macron’s party was likely to achieve a majority.
While many in Zemmour’s Reconquest are for the idea of an alliance, including Le Pen’s niece Marion Marechal, senior members of the RN have been very reluctant on the idea or have outright dismissed it.
Jordan Bardella, a member of the European Parliament and interim president of the RN while Le Pen was campaigning for the presidency, rejected the notion entirely and RN mayor Louis Aliot called for Zemmour to be “more humble” after achieving seven per cent of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections.
According to the Ipsos poll, those wanting a unite right coalition may also face issues convincing moderate conservatives as 37 per cent of the supporter of the centre-right Les Republicains (LR) said they would rather the party form an alliance with Macron, while just 23 per cent would like an alliance with the RN and Reconquest.