Two far-right candidates in France have won 50 per cent of the vote in a single by-election.
The success on Sunday night was described as a ‘warning shot’ to mainstream politicians who are accused of letting ordinary people down over issues like immigration.
Front National (FN) candidate Laurent Lopez took 40.4 percent of the vote in the first round of voting in the south eastern town of Brignoles.
Another far-right party, the ‘Parti de France’, took 9.1 percent.
The centre-right UMP, France’s main opposition parliamentary party, came second with 20.9 percent.
The result led to Marine Le Pen, the leader of the FN – which wants to call a halt to new arrivals – today saying that her party is ‘already the main party in France.’
Its support has been rising consistently, with recent opinion polls suggesting it could take around 16 percent of votes in municipal elections scheduled for next March.
Analysts say economic mismanagement by the ruling Socialists, including record unemployment, have all contributed to the FN’s success.
But it is the contentious issue of immigration, especially from eastern European and Muslim countries, which the FN particularly focuses on.
It says that spiralling crime figures are the result of lax European Union policies which allow thousands of undesirables to enter France.
Shanty towns full of Roma gypsies have, for example, begun springing up on the edges of major cities like Paris and Marseille.
The spokesman for the Socialist party called for the left to unite against the rise of the FN. He said the by-election result was a ‘warning shot’ ahead of the municipal elections – the first real electoral test since President Francois Hollande’s Socialists came to power
David Assouline, spokesman for the Socialist party, called for the left to unite against the rise of the FN.
Mr Assouline said the by-election result was a ‘warning shot’ ahead of the municipal elections – the first real electoral test since Francois Hollande’s Socialists came to power last year.
‘It proves what we have been saying for months,’ Mr Assouline added. ‘When the FN stands strong and tall, the left must absolutely be united from the first round.’
The UMP will battle against the FN candidate in the second round of the Brignoles poll on October 13th.
The Socialist party had no candidate in the by-election and had publicly supported the far-left PCF party, which was eliminated in the first round.
Mr Assouline said his party now called on Brignoles residents to vote for the UMP candidate in the second round rather than let the FN in.
Annoyed at constant references to the FN’s extremism, Mrs Le Pen said last week: ‘We are absolutely not a party of the right. Those who think that are making a total analytical error.
‘I’m considering seeking a judicial ruling that the description ‘extreme right’ is a pejorative term deliberately used to damage the Front National. For journalists to label the FN like this is unethical, biased and intellectually sloppy.’