The French Electoral System
Dr Nicole McLean
Thursday 14th October, 178 days until the first election round
Bonjour !
At our third Living The French Elections 2022 discussion group, we welcomed guest speaker from France, Senior Lecturer in Sociology from University Toulouse, Antony Dabila. Antony spoke about the semi-presidential electoral system in France, some key candidates and provided a socio-historical view of Macron’s presidency and the rise of the Far Right.
Antony informed the group that when it is election year in France, four elections take place. The first and second rounds of the presidential elections, then the first and second rounds of the legislative elections. Next year, these will take place in April and June respectively.
Current President of France, Emmanuel Macron is the front-runner at this stage predicted to win the presidential elections. This is despite his presidency being marked by periods of turbulence, such as the Gilet jaunes (yellow vests) protests over rising fuel prices, cost of living and economic inequality.
The last slide of Antony’s presentation left an eerie ambiance of concern among the 22 academics who logged on to hear his expert opinions. Éric Zemmour, the far-right political journalist, writer and television pundit, known as the ‘French Trump’, has surpassed other far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Zemmour is now sitting in second place with 18% of voting intentions.
One novelty in the French political landscape is former Prime Minister under President Macron, Édouard Philippe, and his new political party Horizon. Founded in October 2021, Horizon is a centre-right political party. Although it supports the re-election of Macron, it also provides an alternative to Macron’s La République En Marche (The Republic On The Move) party and is intended to gain support from those who have become disenchanted with the current French president.
Antony informed our group that even though Horizon does not have the objective of electing a president, it has the potential to be quite influential in the legislative elections. Substantial support for the party in those elections would mean that even if a far-right candidate, such as Zemmour or Le Pen, won the presidential elections, they would not control the legislature. There would most likely be a centre-right majority in the legislature, which would make it difficult for a far-right president to implement drastic radical reforms.
Political tip: keep an eye out for Zemmour and Horizon!