‘A seismic event’: France’s far-right Marine Le Pen triumphant after unprecedented parliamentary gains

Emmannuel Macron will have to bargain and try to make compromises, writes Borzou Daragahi in Paris

Rassemblement National (National Rally) leader Marine Le Pen celebrates Sunday’s parliamentary elections results in Henin-Beaumont, northern France (AFP/Getty)

Marine Le Pen has been a fixture of French politics for decades, and just a few months ago, she was being dismissed even within her own far-right camp as a has-been in favour of her nastier, more outspoken, and sharper-tongued competitor, Eric Zemmour.

But the 53-year-old has shown herself a persistent political force to contend with, first by winning more votes than any other far-right candidate running for president in French history and then, on Sunday, by expanding her party’s foothold in the French parliament elevenfold, giving her and her party unprecedented new power.

“Macron is a minority president now,” she told reporters on Monday. “It’s a historic victory, a seismic event.”