The Financial Times reports that Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (National Rally) received 31.5 per cent of the vote in the elections for the European Parliament which took place from 6-9 June 2024 – compared with just 14.5 per cent for the French president’s centrist alliance. The results led Macron to come out strongly against far right politics, stating: “For me, who always considers that a united, strong, independent Europe is good for France, this is a situation which I cannot countenance. I have decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future with a vote.” However, it is an incredibly high-risk roll of the dice for Macron. He lost his parliamentary majority after winning a second term as president in 2022; this snap election could see him be forced to appoint a prime minister from another party, even, potentially, the far-right Rassemblement National.