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ELECTIONS

How to follow all the latest French election news this weekend

Sunday, June 30th marks the first round of polling in the crucial French parliamentary elections, which may well trigger a political earthquake in France and across Europe. Here's how to keep up with all the latest news and analysis in English.

Published: 28 June 2024 08:54 CEST
Updated: 30 June 2024 08:08 CEST
How to follow all the latest French election news this weekend
French Prime Minister - although maybe not for much longer - Gabriel Attal during a pre-election TV debate. Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / POOL / AFP

What’s happening?

France is holding snap parliamentary elections. Most French elections are held on a fixed cycle, but these are different – they were called by President Emmanuel Macron after his party’s humiliating losses at the European elections at the start of June.

They came as a surprise to the French, and even to some senior members of the president’s own party.

These elections are parliamentary elections – known as les législatives in French – and they determine the make-up of the French parliament and crucially the nature of the next government. The winning party gets to nominate the prime minister, but Macron will remain the president.

READ ALSO: Who is likely to be France’s new prime minister

Why are they important?

Apart from the surprise factor, these elections are attracting worldwide attention because of who might win.

Current polling shows a strong lead for the far-right Rassemblement National party led by Marine Le Pen. If the party gains an absolute majority it would be able to nominate a prime minister – giving France a far-right PM for the first time since the Vichy occupation in World War II.

What a Le Pennist PM could mean for foreigners in France

The RN party are also strongly anti-EU and even the possibility of them being in power is already provoking near-panic in Brussels.

Then there’s the fact that both they and the second-placed group (the alliance of leftist parties known as Nouveau Front Populaire) have somewhat vague economic plans, leading to turmoil on the stock markets.

When are they happening?

Like almost all French elections, these take place over two rounds – round one of voting is on Sunday, June 30th followed by round two a week later on July 7th. Preliminary results for each round will be available on Sunday evening from 8pm.

How do I follow them?

You can keep up with all the latest news at The Local – either on our website or app – at the French elections section HERE.

We will be updating the site on Sunday evening from around 8pm as the results come in, and explaining what happens next and what it all means – especially for foreigners living in France or those hoping to move here some day.

You can also listen to our weekly podcast Talking France – we will be making two election-special episodes coming out on Monday, July 1st and Monday, July 8th.

And you can sign up to receive by email or bi-weekly election briefings and all the latest election news.

If you download our app, which is available for Apple and Android phones, you can receive all the major breaking news in France and all election stories by turning on your notifications via the “User” button.

Do you have a question about the French elections you want us to try and answer? Feel free to email our team at [email protected]

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ELECTIONS

When can we expect French election results on Sunday?

British and American readers might be expecting to stay up all night watching the results come in - but France has a different process for its elections.

Published: 30 June 2024 07:59 CEST
When can we expect French election results on Sunday?

France is currently holding snap parliamentary elections, with two rounds of voting – on Sunday, June 30th and Sunday, July 7th. 

So when can we expect the results and what do they all mean?

Results time

If you’re used to following elections in the UK or the US, you might be planning an all-night watch party following the results being declared for each area.

France is not like that – on Sunday polls close at 8pm and then immediately a preliminary result is announced.

These are sometimes described as exit polls, but they’re not – what they are is sample results from carefully selected constituencies, worked out according to a complicated formula.

How does France produce such accurate provisional election results?

But the important thing about them is that they are usually very accurate – so basically we will know the result at 8pm on Sunday.

Counting, however, continues all night at polling stations across the country – but the results are not released on an area-by-area basis. Instead the Interior Ministry tallies all the results and then releases the full and final totals some time on Monday, usually in the morning.

These usually differ by a few percent from the provisional totals, but the final result has never (so far) been different to the result given at 8pm.

Results of two rounds

Because French elections take place over two rounds, the results mean slightly different things.

The results this Sunday tell us only which candidates have progressed to round two of voting (to be held on July 7th).

It will also tell us which parties have been eliminated at the round one stage in each constituency.

READ ALSO How does France’s two-round voting system work?

In most constituencies round two is a two-horse race but it’s possible to have three or even four candidates get through to the second round, depending on the vote share.

In this election, it is expected that in a significant number of seats the run-off will be between a candidate from the far-right Rassemblement National and the alliance of leftist parties known as Nouveau Front Populaire. This is somewhat uncharted waters for French politics, so expect much fevered speculation on what it means and which way voters will lean in round two.

The results from round two – which follow the same pattern of provisional results at 8pm on Sunday followed by full results on Monday – are much simpler.

They tell us which candidate won in each of France’s 577 constituencies and which party they represent.

We then do some speedy maths to work out if any of the parties have reached the magic number of 289 seats, which would give them an absolute majority in parliament.

If no party gets 289 seats, then fun and games begin with attempts to build coalitions and alliances between the parties.

READ ALSO Coalition, resignation or shared rule: The possible outcomes of France’s snap elections

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