National Rally
French political party / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The National Rally (French: Rassemblement National, pronounced [ʁasɑ̃bləmɑ̃ nɑsjɔnal]; RN), known as the National Front from 1972 to 2018 (French: Front National, pronounced [fʁɔ̃ nɑsjɔnal]; FN), is a French nationalist and right-wing populist party in France.[11] It is the largest parliamentary opposition group in the National Assembly; it has seen its candidate reach the second round in the 2002, 2017 and 2022 presidential elections. It is an anti-immigration party, advocating significant cuts to legal immigration and protection of French identity,[12] as well as stricter control of illegal immigration. It also advocates for a 'more balanced' and 'independent' French foreign policy by opposing French military intervention in Africa and by distancing France from the American sphere of influence by leaving NATO's integrated command. It supports reform of the European Union (EU) and its related organisations. It also supports economic interventionism and protectionism, and zero tolerance of breaches of law and order.[13] The party has been accused of promoting xenophobia and antisemitism.[14]
National Rally Rassemblement National | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | RN |
President | Jordan Bardella |
Vice Presidents | |
Parliamentary party leader | Marine Le Pen (National Assembly) |
Founder | Jean-Marie Le Pen[1] |
Founded | 5 October 1972; 51 years ago (1972-10-05) |
Headquarters | 114 bis rue Michel-Ange 75016 Paris |
Youth wing | Rassemblement national de la jeunesse |
Security wing | Department for Protection and Security |
Membership (2023) | 50,000[2][3] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Far-right[A][6] |
National affiliation | Rassemblement bleu Marine (2012–2017) |
European affiliation | Identity and Democracy Party |
European Parliament group | Identity and Democracy[nb 1] |
Colours | Navy blue[nb 2] |
National Assembly | 88 / 577 |
Senate | 3 / 348 |
European Parliament | 19 / 79 |
Presidencies of Regional Councils | 0 / 17 |
Regional Councillors | 252 / 1,758 |
Presidencies of Departmental Councils | 0 / 101 |
Departmental Councillors | 26 / 4,108 |
Website | |
rassemblementnational | |
^ A: The RN is considered part of the radical right, a subset of the far-right that does not oppose democracy.[8][9][10] |
The party was founded in 1972 to unify the French nationalist movement. Its political views are nationalist, nativist and anti-globalist. Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the party and was its leader until his resignation in 2011. While the party struggled as a marginal force for its first ten years, it has been a major force of French nationalism since 1984.[15] It has put forward a candidate at every presidential election but one since 1974. In 2002, Jean-Marie came second in the first round, but finished a distant second in the runoff to Jacques Chirac.[16] His daughter Marine Le Pen was elected to succeed him as party leader in 2012. She temporarily stepped down in 2017 in order to concentrate on her presidential candidacy; she resumed her presidency after the election.[17] She headed the party until 2021, when she temporarily resigned again. A year later, Jordan Bardella was elected as her successor.[18]
The party has seen an increase in its popularity and acceptance in French society in recent years. While her father was nicknamed the "Devil of the Republic" by mainstream media and sparked outrage for hate speech, including Holocaust denial and Islamophobia, Marine Le Pen pursued a policy of "de-demonisation" of the party by softening its image and trying to frame the party as being neither right nor left.[19] She endeavoured to extract it from its far-right roots, as well as censuring controversial members like her father, who was suspended and then expelled from the party in 2015.[20] Following her election as the leader of the party in 2011, the popularity of the FN grew.[21] By 2015, the FN had established itself as a major political party in France.[22][23] Sources traditionally labeled the party far-right.[24] However, some media outlets have started to refer to the party as "right-wing" or "nationalist right" instead, arguing that it has substantially moderated from its years under Jean-Marie Le Pen.[11]
At the FN congress of 2018, Marine Le Pen proposed renaming the party Rassemblement national (National Rally),[25] and this was confirmed by a ballot of party members.[26] Formerly strongly Eurosceptic, the National Rally changed policies in 2019, deciding to campaign for a reform of the EU rather than leaving it and to keep the euro as the main currency of France (together with the CFP franc for some collectivities).[27] In 2021, Le Pen announced that she wanted to remain in the Schengen Area, citing "an attachment to the European spirit", but to reserve free movement to nationals of a European Economic Area country, excluding residents and visitors of another Schengen country.[28][29]
Le Pen reached the second round of the 2017 presidential election, receiving 33.9% of the votes in the run-off and losing to Emmanuel Macron. Again in the 2022 election, she faced Macron in the run-off, receiving 41.45% of the votes. In the 2022 parliamentary elections, the National Rally, increased the number of its MPs in the National Assembly from 7 to 89 seats.