France elections w/ Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, Deborah Walker-Morrison: 15th July, 2024

After the far-right National Rally’s dominant victory in the European Parliament elections in France, French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections for the National Assembly to be held in two rounds on June 30th and July 7th.

In the first round, National Rally came in top, however, it did not pass the threshold of 289 seats for an outright win.

After a second round of voting, a loose alliance of left-wing parties, the New Popular Front, secured the most seats. However, again, no one group won an absolute majority. 

To win an outright majority, a party or coalition needs to secure at least 289 seats.

With France now left with a hung parliament, Wire host Sofia spoke to Associate Professor of French at the University of Auckland, Deborah Walker-Morrison, about these results and what’s next for the state of French politics. 

She began the interview asking her why President Emmanuel Macron called the snap election.