The right-wing nationalist National Regroupment (RN) party obtained impressive results in France’s municipal elections, which ended on Sunday (22), and increased its political capital for the 2027 presidential election.
Counting the disputes in the first round, held last Sunday (15), and the second, which took place yesterday, the RN will govern 47 French city halls, more than tripling the 14 it had obtained in the 2020 election.
RN and allied parties added 310 new city halls in the 2026 elections and won 3,019 mayor and councilor positions, according to a survey by the Politico website. In 2020, they had obtained only 827.
The most significant result was achieved in Nice, France’s fifth largest city, where Eric Ciotti (RN’s ally) was elected.
In the two largest French cities, Paris and Marseille, the left will continue to govern, with the victories of Emmanuel Grégoire and Benoît Payan, respectively.
“Very proud of our exemplary candidates and this great campaign. The RN has become the silent force that France needs to begin its renaissance!”, Jordan Bardella, leader of the RN, wrote on X.
The party, which had also obtained impressive results in the last national legislative elections and for the European Parliament, is now aiming for the presidency, after reaching the second round in the last two disputes (in 2022 and 2017), with Marine Le Pen.
Last year, in a trial for embezzlement of European Parliament resources, Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison (two to be served under house arrest and two suspended), payment of a fine of 100,000 euros and ineligibility for five years, which would leave her out of the 2027 presidential election – which would be her fourth attempt to reach the Élysée Palace.
She appealed and a decision will be announced by the French court on July 7. If his conviction is upheld, Bardella should be RN’s presidential candidate in the race to succeed Emmanuel Macron, who will not be able to seek another term because he has already been elected twice consecutively.
