National Rally

The National Rally (French: Rassemblement national or RN) is a far right political party in France. It used to be called the National Front until 2018.

The party was founded on 5 October 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen.^[1] The party was first called the National Front for French Unity (Front national pour l'unité française). Their most successful performance in the legislative elections was in 1997, where they received 14.9% of the vote in the 1st round and 5.7% in the 2nd round. Recently, they won the 2014 European Parliament election with 24.85% of the vote.^[2][3][4]

Only on three occasions has an FN / RN candidate advanced to the second round of the french presidential elections, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002 and his daughter Marine Le Pen in 2017, (again in 2022). Jean-Marie Le Pen heavily lost the second round, as he only received 17.8% of the vote; Marine Le Pen also lost the second round, only receiving 33.9% of the vote.^[5]

Jean-Marie Le Pen was leader of the party from 1972 until 2011. In 2011, the party voted to make Marine Le Pen leader.^[6][7] She wanted to soften the party's image. Marine Le Pen expelled her father from the party in 2015 after he made some controversial statements.^[8][9] On 24 April 2017, a day after the first round of the 2017 French presidential election, Marine Le Pen stepped down from her position.^[10] Steeve Briois is now the temporary leader.

The party is patriotic.^[11] The party is very Eurosceptic^[12] (meaning they are against the European Union) and wants to limit immigration.^[13] Marine Le Pen supports letting the government control health, education, transportation, banking and energy.^[14] Critics say that the ideology of the RN focuses on bad attitudes on immigrants.^[15]

1. ↑ "Vive la difference – has France's National Front changed?". bbc.com.
2. ↑ "France in shock". Economist.com. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
3. ↑ "Marine Le Pen wins record victory for Front National in French elections". The Telegraph. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
4. ↑ "European election results 2014: Far-right parties flourish across Europe". Independent. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
5. ↑ "How France Voted". 7 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
6. ↑ "Marine Le Pen 'chosen to lead Frances National Front'". BBC News. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
7. ↑ "France's National Front picks Marine Le Pen as new head". BBC News. 16 January 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
8. ↑ "France National Front: Jean-Marie Le Pen suspended". bbc.com.
9. ↑ "Jean-Marie Le Pen, exclu du Front national, fera "bien évidemment" un recours en justice". L'Express. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
10. ↑ "Marine Le Pen temporarily steps down as Front National leader to concentrate on presidential bid". The Independent.
11. ↑ Jens Rydgren. "France: The Front National, Ethnonationalism and Populism". Link.springer.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
12. ↑ "Qu'est-ce qui fait échouer le Front de gauche ?". Marianne. 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
13. ↑ "Immigration | Stopper l'immigration, renforcer l'identité française". Front National. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
14. ↑ 1 August 2011, Russell (29 April 2011). "Marine Le Pen, France's (Kinder, Gentler) Extremist". The New York Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
15. ↑ 15 November 2022 (14 November 2024). "Peut-on dire que le Rassemblement national est xénophobe?". Slate.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)