France’s Front National (FN)

In the European Parliament (EP) elections of 22-25 May 2014, Front National (FN) obtained 24.9% of the vote in France, and thus became the largest French party in the EP with 24 seats. This result was described as a “political earthquake.” FN’s success has been attributed to a variety of factors, including the weaknesses of the two main parties and the attempts by FN’s leader, Marine Le Pen, to modernise the party.

FN’s recent success is not an isolated phenomenon: it has enjoyed a number of electoral successes in recent years. In the 2002 Presidential election, for example, its candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen (Marine Le Pen’s father) shocked the political establishment by coming second, defeating the Socialist candidate and advancing to the second round run-off.

This Standard Note provides a brief history of the FN, before looking in more detail at its performance in the recent EP elections.