Triumph of the Gaullists, but above all of abstention, Le Pen does not break through, but the real blow is remedied by President Emmanuel Macron. The results, still not definitive, can be summarized as follows: of the first round of the French regional elections on Sunday 20 June.
Only 33,7% of voters went to vote to choose the presidents and councilors of the French regions, a very low turnout which swept away the previous negative record dating back to the 2010 regional elections, when 53,67% of eligible voters went to the polls.
In terms of parties, the performance of the far-right party led by was disappointing Marine Le Pen, which according to polls should have taken first place in 6 of the 12 regions of mainland France. Rassemblement National (RN), on the other hand, is ahead only in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur stronghold, but the result could be overturned during the run-off on 27 June.
Way below expectations also The Republic on the Move, which stood for the first time in the regional elections. President Emmanuel Macron's party which not only failed to win the lead in any region, but in 4 it even went below 10%, the minimum threshold for participating in the second round.
It was the traditional parties that took advantage of the opponents' weaknesses. What stands out above all is the 41% obtained in the Hauts-de-France by the candidate of the republicans, Xavier Bertrand, against 24,4 percent of the candidate of Le Pen's party, Sébastien Chenu. The Gaullists are also ahead in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Grand Est, Pays de la Loire, Normandy and Île-de-France (the region around Paris) with outgoing Valérie Pécresse. Left-wing candidates, in many cases supported by coalitions of Socialists and Greens, lead in New Aquitaine, Brittany, Occitania, Centre-Val de Loire and Burgundy-Franche-Comté. In Corsica, the autonomist candidate Gilles Simeoni has the advantage, with 28% of the preferences.
Nationally, the Républicains would get 29% of the vote. In second place would be Rassemblement National with 19%. Follow the Socialists with 16% and the Greens with 13%. The République en Marche would instead be stuck at 11%.
