French town veers to far-right in election
STORY: Caregiver Sandrine Marchal said she voted for the far-right in Sunday’s (June 19) parliamentary runoff to express her severe discontent with how the country is being run by current leaders.
Marchal, a 50-year-old who lives in social housing, reproached the government for her quality of life. So for years now, she said, she has been voting for the far-right.
“I live in social housing, and I say honestly, we find that people don't work, that they don't want to work, and they get aid and I don't," she said.
In Meaux, the far-right candidate Beatrice Roullaud won 52% of the votes, beating the candidate for a left-wing alliance. More than half of all registered voters stayed away from polling stations. The conservative Les Republicains (LR) had led the town since 2002.
Le Pen's RN party on Sunday won 89 seats, 10 times more than in 2017 and its highest ever in the National Assembly. It is the first time it will be able to form a parliamentary group, meaning it will get more public financing, more speaking time, among other legislative powers.
