A cold shower. For the first round of the legislative elections, Sunday June 12, Eric Zemmour and his party collapse. Reconquest! came in fifth place with 4.1% of the vote, far behind the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) (25.6%), the coalition of the presidential majority (25.2%) and its extreme rival on the right, the National Rally (19.1%), according to the Ipsos-Sopra Steria estimate for France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and the parliamentary channels.
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The leader of Reconquête!, Eric Zemmour, was beaten in the first round in the 4th district of Var. The founder of the far-right party came third with 23.19% of the vote. The former far-right candidate for the Elysée Palace is far from reaching his score in the first round of the presidential election (7%). This is a major disappointment for the leader of Reconquest! who could hope to win in this territory where he achieved his best national score in the presidential election (22.42%).
Two other personalities of Reconquest! are also beaten in the first round. Stanislas Rigault arrives 4th in the 2nd constituency of Vaucluse, with 10.54% of the vote. He faced Bénédicte Auzanot, local elected representative of the RN (26.08%) who had a good chance of winning thanks to the first place obtained by Marine Le Pen in this presidential constituency.
Guillaume Peltier, former vice-president of the Republicans who joined Eric Zemmour during the presidential election, was beaten in the 2nd constituency of Loir-et-Cher, where he was playing for his re-election. He comes in 5th position with 13.99% of the vote. The Executive Vice President of Reconquest! had in particular in front of him Pascal Bioulac, a candidate invested by LR, his former political family (17.28%).
This poor score in the first round of the legislative elections is largely explained by the suffocation strategy of Reconquest! by the National Rally. By refusing any political alliance with Eric Zemmour and by presenting RN candidates in all the constituencies sought by Reconquest!, Marine Le Pen has reduced the chances of qualification in the second round for the Zemmourist candidates to almost nothing.