National Rally secures parliamentary group in French Senate for the first time

Marine Le Pen’s party, National Rally (RN), has, for the first time, secured the number of senators needed to form a parliamentary group in the French Senate.

In the latest indirect elections, RN won nine new seats, bringing the number of its senators to 12. The party’s ally, UDR, secured two more seats, bringing the number of right-wing senators expected to make up the group to 14.

This is RN’s best result in the Senate to date and allows it to have organized representation in both chambers of the French Parliament.

Senators in France are elected through an indirect process by an electoral college made up of members of parliament, senators and, primarily, elected local representatives.

The achievement comes several months before France’s presidential election. Marine Le Pen is expected to once again be one of the leading figures in the race for the presidency.