French far right hopes polishing its act will deliver victory

By Elizabeth Pineau and Tassilo Hummel

PARIS (Reuters) -After a shock defeat in France's legislative elections, Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) will double down on weeding out problematic candidates to counter successful efforts by mainstream parties to block the far right from power.

Polls had suggested the RN would secure the most seats in the snap two-round election, which French President Emmanuel Macron called after Le Pen's party was the clear victor of June's European parliamentary vote. 

Yet the RN ultimately placed third, with its hopes of forming France's first far-right government since World War II thwarted by centrist and left-wing parties who withdrew about 200 third-placed candidates to unify the anti-RN vote. 

The strategy, known as the "republican front", is a feature of French political life and has been used for decades to block the RN from power.

RN officials and lawmakers who spoke to Reuters believe the party can overcome this electoral barricade if it professionalizes further, following a path laid out by Le Pen after she lost the 2017 presidential election to Macron. That means greater screening of potential candidates and tougher party discipline to avoid costly gaffes, they said.

In the run-up to the vote, media reports unveiled an RN candidate who had been photographed in a Nazi cap, and another who sought to defend against the party's history of racism and antisemitism by saying she had a Jewish eye doctor and Muslim dentist. After the vote, a newly elected RN lawmaker was ejected from the party's parliamentary group for saying French Arabs had no place in government.

"We have to avoid these casting errors that cost us dearly and clearly hurt us," said Julien Masson, an RN official in Brittany. 

Heads have already begun to roll, with Gilles Pennelle, a member of the European Parliament, stepping down from his role as the RN executive in charge of overseeing candidate lists. 

"He was blamed for the candidates who were not good, who were not up to the level," Masson said.

Pennelle did not respond to requests for comment.

Two RN lawmakers told Reuters there would be more media training to avoid a repeat of embarrassing interviews in which candidates appeared amateurish.

RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy said the party was judged by an unfair standard, but acknowledged it needed to do better.

"You always have to improve," he told Reuters, adding that Le Pen's 28-year-old protege Jordan Bardella would soon announce proposals to address "organizational problems."      

Christophe Gervasi, who conducts private polling for the RN, said that as well as inexperienced and ill-disciplined recruits, the party's tendency to be vague and inconsistent on policy proposals had dented its credibility.

The party pledges to cut immigration, reduce fuel costs and be tougher on crime, common themes among populist far-right parties, but has dropped previous positions questioning EU and NATO membership.

Gervasi said it would be no easy task for the RN to overcome the republican front. 

"There are endemic structural weaknesses that persist," he said. "The system is defending itself against the RN's accession to power."

Patrick Weil, a historian of the far right, said he doubted that an RN deep-clean would be enough for it to bulldoze the republican front. Much would depend on how the future government pans out and who stands in the 2027 election, in which Le Pen is likely to make her fourth attempt at the presidency.

"If someone popular runs, Marine le Pen will be beaten. If someone very unpopular runs, she will be elected," he said.

Adélaïde Zulfikarpasic, of BVA Xsight pollsters, said the surprising solidity of the republican front, which many had predicted to crumble in this election, underlined lingering discomfort with the far right.

"The RN is undoubtedly still a little scary," she said. "Its demonization is not over." 

RISING TIDE?

Sunday's result was not a complete disaster for the RN, which nearly doubled its seats in the National Assembly. The party scooped up nearly a third of the popular vote, a record high for the RN in parliamentary elections.

The party can now watch from the opposition benches as centrist and leftist parties with no tradition of coalition-building guide France through a period of political instability.

That could benefit the RN ahead of a 2027 election.

"The tide is rising, but it has not risen high enough this time," Le Pen said on Sunday. "Our victory is only delayed."

The day after the vote, Bardella acknowledged the party had made mistakes, including on the choice of some of its candidates, but said the seeds of victory had been sown.

Towns like Nangis, located about 75 km southeast of Paris in the Brie agricultural plain, provide hope for the RN.

The constituency was in the hands of the mainstream, conservative right for 66 years until the RN finally wrested it away. 

Isabelle Martin, a 52-year-old administrative worker, was among locals who voted for the RN. She was disappointed mainstream parties combined to stop the RN from winning power at the national level, an arrangement she described as "les magouilles", or dirty deals. But she predicted the resulting political chaos would benefit the RN.

"The others have three years to prove that they can do something good," Martin said. "If they haven't pulled it off by 2027 then maybe (the RN) have a chance."

(Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Toby Chopra)