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French Senate
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- 1National Rally says it can form a Senate group for first time●URGENT - The National Rally says it is able to form a group in the Senate "for the first time in its history" https:// f
France's far-right National Rally announced it has secured enough seats to form a group in the Senate for the first time in its history, following the senatorial elections. The breakthrough would give the party greater institutional weight, speaking time and committee positions in the upper house, and marks a new step in its expansion beyond the National Assembly.
- 2
French voters are heading to the polls in the 2026 Senate elections, with grand electors in around sixty departments called to cast ballots. The vote is the last nationwide election before the 2027 presidential election, giving it added political weight. French media are providing live coverage of the results and what they mean for the balance of the upper house.
- 3Rassemblement National to form Senate group for first time●Sans surprise, le RN va constituer pour la première fois un groupe au Sénat avec (au moins) 10 sénateurs. Le parti a rem
The Rassemblement National will form a parliamentary group in the French Senate for the first time, with at least 10 senators following indirect elections. The party won a seat in Gironde, another in Var, and two seats in Bouches-du-Rhône. Commentators describe the milestone as a first step in the far-right party's institutional expansion, long dominated by mainstream parties.
- 4Roussel promises to temper criticism of Mélenchon for presidential race●Roussel promet de ne pas (trop) critiquer Mélenchon pour cette présidentielle: "Nous ne tomberons pas dans l'agressivité
Fabien Roussel, leader of the French Communist Party, has pledged not to attack Jean-Luc Mélenchon too harshly ahead of the presidential election. His campaign director, senator Ian Brossat, told La Tribune that "we will not fall into aggressiveness." The olive branch toward the veteran left-wing rival is drawing attention as the French left weighs unity against competition in the race.
- 5French Greens and LFI blame each other over lost Senate seat●Les Ecolos et LFI s'accusent mutuellement l'absence d'un troisième siège pour les Français de l'étranger aux sénatoriale
France's Greens and La France Insoumise are trading blame after failing to win a third Senate seat representing French citizens abroad. LFI figures say the Ecologists' refusal to join a joint EELV-LFI list cost the left the seat, handing it to the right. Each party insists the other is responsible for the electoral misstep.
- 6Marie-Caroline Le Pen fails in Sarthe senate race●Autre petit motif de satisfaction, la déconfiture de Marie-Caroline Le Pen dans la Sarthe. La sœur ainée de Marine Le Pe
Marie-Caroline Le Pen, the elder sister of Marine Le Pen, has failed in her bid for a Senate seat in the Sarthe department. Despite several previous runs for the National Assembly, this was her first attempt at the senatorial elections, and she finished only fourth. Observers on the French left are presenting her defeat as an added source of satisfaction alongside other favourable election results.