French far right says power within grasp as footballer warns of disaster

Tensions rise ahead of second-round vote, with supporters of candidates attacked

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen insisted on July 4 that her party can still win control of Parliament, despite the centre and left scrambling to block her way and football hero Kylian Mbappe urging fans to outvote “those people”.

Three days before the July 7 run-off in France’s most critical legislative elections in recent history, a poll projected Ms Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) would fall short of an overall majority despite dominating the June 30 first-round vote.

Tensions are growing as the clock ticks down to July 7, with assaults reported on candidates and the outcome determining if France elects its first far-right government since World War II or embarks on an era of potentially paralysing coalition politics.

France’s iconic football captain and striker Mbappe addressed the race at a news conference in Hamburg ahead of the team’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal.

He warned: “We can’t leave our country in the hands of those people there.”

“I think we all saw the results, it is catastrophic,” he said of the RN’s first-round victory. “We hope that that will change and that everyone will mobilise to vote, and to vote for the right side.”