In a shocking first round of voting for the French National Assembly, the anti-immigration National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen, secured a decisive victory in exit polls with 34% of the vote.
The result brings the nationalist party with an anti-Semitic history closer to power than ever before, and could set the stage for Le Pen’s protege, a 28-year-old right wing leader, Jordan Bardella, to become prime minister after a second round of voting on July 7.
France’s prime minister is currently Gabriel Attal, who made history when he was appointed by Macron in January, becoming the first openly gay holder of the office. Attal, now 35, is currently the youngest head of government in the world.
