Immigration and the economic cost of living were prominent pillars of the discontent that bolstered farright parties in the recent European Union elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s domestic response to their success was to call a snap election taking the nation and even his own centrist party by surprise.

The first round result sent tremors through the political landscape in France and across Europe as Le Pen’s party won the most seats and the biggest share of the vote.

Suddenly the prospect of a farright French government for the first time since the Second World War seemed not only possible but even probable.

The reaction was desperate but ultimately effective as parties of the left and centre collaborated in an unholy alliance to sacrifice their own interests and keep out the right at all costs.

In the second round of voting, political rivals stepped aside to avoid splitting the antipopulist vote and it worked.

The leftist alliance the New Popular Front emerged with most seats, followed by Macron’s centrist Ensemble coalition with Le Pen’s National Rally reduced to third place.

Senator Nathalie Goulet of the centrist Union of Democrats and Independents joins Riz Khan to find some answers to the many questions facing France after the elections.

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