In the first test of public opinion since November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, the anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen notched up its best result since it was founded in 1972. The preliminary results showed that France's far-right National Front gained the largest share of support in a first round of regional elections Sunday, putting it in the lead to win control of several regions in a second vote next week. With almost all of the votes counted, FN was placed first in six of the country's 13 regions. Trailing were the right-leaning parties, including the Republicans, led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy. Even further behind were the Socialists, whose best-known figure is President François Hollande. These results highlight the emergence of Marine Le Pen's FN as a third pole in French politics, capable of luring mainstream voters. Ms. Le Pen, who has combined the party's anti-immigration stance with calls for hard-line security measures and tighter control of France's borders, has only bolstered her support in the three weeks since the Paris attacks. Run-offs will be held on Dec.13, with the FN well-placed to win one or more regions. Even one outright victory would be a major boost for Le Pen, who wants a base of locally elected officials to help her target power at national level. Her eye is on the 2017 presidential and parliamentary elections, with French politics now clearly a three-way race, after decades of domination by the Socialists and conservatives. The key question will now be whether the Socialists, seen as lying third behind the FN and the Republicans in regions which the far-right could win over on Dec.13, will pull out of the race in those regions. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy ruled out any pact with President Francois Hollande's Socialist party to keep the far-right out. Sarkozy's conservative Republicans party came second in the overall national vote, on 27.4 percent, behind the far-right National Front but ahead of the Socialists on 22.7 percent, according to an interim count of two thirds of the votes. The conservatives and their allies were leading in four regions, including Paris, and the Socialists in three. We can say that the result provides a sense of the national political mood barely 18 months before the presidential election. Any way, we must await the second round of voting next Sunday that will determine the final results.
