Jubilation. In the abbey space, in Hénin-Beaumont, the activists of the National Rally are experiencing their epiphany. This Sunday evening, the far-right party, which received 34% of the votes according to initial estimates, is celebrating a historic score. In the 11th constituency of Pas-de-Calais, Marine Le Pen was elected in the first round (with 58.24% of the votes), like many RN deputies leaving Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In this former left-wing stronghold, it is the victory of the entire party that we are celebrating. Marine Le Pen has been plowing this land of Pas-de-Calais for twenty-two years, where she has multiplied her candidacies for elections (regional, municipal, European, legislative). His first parachute drop dates back to the regional elections of 1998, alongside Carl Lang.
Steeve Briois (mayor of Hénin-Beaumont) and Bruno Bilde (elected in the first round in the 12th constituency of Pas-de-Calais) then encouraged him to continue his establishment on these working-class lands, convinced that there was something to do for the far-right party. “And then the Flemish physique and Marine’s cheekiness suited the place well,” Bruno Bilde explained at the time to Release.
We must wait until 2017 for Marine Le Pen to win the constituency, then 2024, to confirm the final shift of the northern city with an election in the first round. And that of the National Rally which has never achieved such a high score, with such a level of participation (67% according to initial estimates). 12 million voters voted this Sunday for the Lepenist party. However, obtaining an absolute majority, a condition given by Jordan Bardella to accept Matignon, is not a given. “Is it a tidal wave?” asks BFM-TV to Sébastien Chenu, also re-elected in the first round. “We may be on a tidal wave” puts the latter into perspective.
Possibility of withdrawing RN candidates in favor of an LR
Marine Le Pen takes the stage. Cheers. The speech is brief. The MP warns: her voters must not demobilize. Because the record number of triangulars in the second round (between 290 and 320) makes any prediction uncertain. “Nothing is won and the second round will be decisive”, warns Marine Le Pen who welcomes “the erasure of the Macronist bloc”. From Paris, Jordan Bardella warns of the danger of “the alliance of the worst, of the New Popular Front gathered behind Jean-Luc Mélenchon which would lead the country to disorder, insurrection and ruin”.
What strategy should you adopt? At headquarters, we are working on the results of each constituency, and the RN could, in the event of a triangular, choose to withdraw its candidate in favor of a better placed right-wing candidate. “There will be no national voting instructions,” assures Renaud Labaye, Marine Le Pen’s right-hand man in the Assembly. “There will be two hypotheses: do we need to win with a compatible candidate, or do we need to beat someone we consider harmful,” adds an advisor. Marine Le Pen, freed from her campaign, should devote herself to negotiations between the two rounds.
“It’s worse than hatred”
In the Heninese room, the activists linger, glass of champagne in hand, dreaming of their big evening. Claudine, Christelle and Nicolas came as a family. It’s the first time they’ve attended an RN evening, but “this is different”. They have been voting RN from mother to daughter for years. “I think of my grandfather who told me that we would not have a good future because of uncontrolled immigration, unemployment… All that will finally change,” assures Christelle, in her fifties, for whom the FN has always been the solution. Bruno, for his part, is a rallying point at the last hour. “I am a Ciottist,” he explains. He assures that there are differences between the right and the far right, that they are only economic, and that, moreover, he would rather see Jordan Bardella than Marine Le Pen running in 2027. “He is more charismatic, he represents the French, even if he has Algerian origins, we don’t care, because we know his history, he defends the values of France.”
Edouard, for his part, lives in Lille. He is delighted with the RN’s score, but it is not enough to calm his anger. “It’s not even hatred,” he says. “It’s worse than hatred. Why did we let all these migrants in? Why do they sleep in our council housing while we leave the whites on the ground in the street? In Roubaix they opened the first Quick Halal. We’re fed up, things have to change. And for that, there’s only the RN.”