The far right therefore reached its highest historical level, with 41.46% in the second round of the 2022 presidential election. A score in which Marine Le Pen saw on Sunday evening “a resounding victory”. A “brilliant victory” which still looks more like a sparkling defeat, the third in a row, and much cleaner than expected. Marine Le Pen’s objective was victory, of course, or, failing that, the narrowest defeat possible. Remember that on the evening of the first round, some polls gave him 48% of voting intentions. It therefore ends much lower. In fact, Marine Le Pen kept backing down during the inter-round, before and after her failed televised debate.
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As the ballot approached, the vote carryover from voters, candidates eliminated from the first round – and probably first and foremost those of the rebellious – improved for Emmanuel Macron. As if, finally, the dam against the far right was set up almost naturally. How to explain it? First, Marine Le Pen was no longer protected by the Zemmour lightning rod. She had until then led the most depoliticized campaign, the most harmless possible, to paint herself as a candidate for cats and purchasing power. The day after the first round, she found herself on the front line. And the extreme right character of his project on immigration, Europe, the alliance with Vladimir Putin’s Russia or public freedoms, has reappeared in broad daylight.
And then the very name of Le Pen once again acted as a foil. The candidate had tried to hide it throughout her campaign. On his leaflets, his posters, his profession of faith, in his meetings, there was no longer any question of Marine. Moreover, for years, she has been changing the words to “ripolinate” the facade of her party. The National Front became the National Rally. National preference has become national priority. But Le Pen remained Le Pen. And this name, which appears on her ballot papers, continues to plague her in the voting booth.
As of Sunday evening, Marine Le Pen announced that she would continue the political fight. It is undoubtedly a way of pulling the rug out from under the feet of those who, as in 2017, would be tempted to challenge its authority. But it must also be said that most have already left for Éric Zemmour. Of course, the extreme right is strong, very strong, and Marine Le Pen has gained eight points in five years. But it is undoubtedly easier to go from 33 to 41% of the vote than from 49 to 51%. And it is doubtful that the name of Le Pen, beaten yesterday for the eighth time in the presidential election in 48 years, will one day allow this threshold to be crossed.