With 33% of the vote, the hard right, nationalist and Eurosceptic party Rassemblement National (RN) has won the first round of France’s legislative elections.

With a very high turnout of more than 2/3 of the population, voters clearly expressed their rejection of President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, who called these snap elections to gauge the feelings of the French about the future of the country.

After the RN led by Marine Le Pen and her proposed prime minister, Jordan Bardella, the left-wing coalition, led by the populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, came in second place, with a strong increase in votes as well, with 29%.

The coalition supporting the centrist and liberal policies of Macron fell to a third place with 20% of the vote, showing that the gambles of the President failed.

The nationalist Bardella, who has said he will prioritise security, the “daily life” problems of the people, and a strong anti-migration stance, is calling its supporters to work to get an outright majority in the Assemblée National, in the second and final round, on 7 July.

Evangelical reaction

Evangelical representatives have said outcome of the election must be respected and Christians should be able to model peace and a respect for plurality.

Au-delà de ces échéances il nous faudra continuer à rechercher de manière exigeante, constructive et apaisée, à faire société ensemble, avec les autorités qui auront été désignées.
Prenons dès lors le parti de refuser les postures de haine, d’invective et de rejet.

— Romain CHOISNET (@comcnef) July 1, 2024

“Beyond these deadlines, we must continue to seek to build a society together in a demanding, constructive and peaceful manner, with the authorities who will have been appointed. So let's make up our minds to reject the postures of hatred, invective and rejection”, said Romain Choisnet, spokesperson of the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF).

It was expected that evangelical Protestants in France would withdraw its support for Emmanuel Macron over laws that have encouraged a restriction of religious freedom in the name of security, as well as initiatives to promote abortion and euthanasia.

Historian Sebastien Fath, an expert in French evangelicalism, said he was not sure if evangelical Christians would change their historic stance and vote forCatholic-style French Christian nationalism (represented by the RN) but that it was obvious that there had been a “divorce” between evangelicals and President Macron.