Marine le Pen insists National Rally can win absolute majority in French elections as campaign is rocked by violence with government spokeswoman and her team attacked by 20-strong mob

Far-right leader Marine le Pen has insisted that her party, National Rally (RN), will be able to win an absolute majority by the end of the second round of France’s election, despite party officials being attacked in the street by angry mobs. 

RN, headed by le Pen and her political protege Jordan Bardella, won a massive 34% of the votes in the first round, held in June 30, leaving the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron trailing behind. 

But with three days left until the second round of the most critical legislative elections in France’s recent history, a poll projected that the RN would fall short of an absolute majority despite its initial success. 

Despite the negative projections, le Pen was confident that RN would win the second round. 

‘I think there is still the capacity to have an absolute majority with the electorate turning out in a final effort to get what they want,’ Le Pen told BFMTV in an interview.

RN left the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron trailing behind in the first round of the French election 

Tens of thousand people gather on Place de la Republique in Paris to protest against the far-right party National Rally

‘I say turn out to vote as it’s a really important moment to get a change in politics in all the areas that are making you suffer right now,’ she added. 

While RN’s support has been high, it is still an incredibly divisive party that has drawn in a deeply negative reaction. 

Four people, including three minors, were detained after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot and her team were attacked while they were sticking up campaign posters in Meudon outside Paris, prosecutors said.  

Thevenot, who is of Mauritian origin, told local media that the attack happened after her team told around 10 young people to stop defacing their posters. 

‘We said to them, without being aggressive, that [defacing posters] was not allowed’, she said.  

While she was not harmed, a colleague and a supporter were wounded and taken to hospital after the attack by some 20 people.

Four people, including three minors, were detained after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot (pictured) and her team were attacked while they were sticking up campaign posters in Meudon outside Paris

While RN’s support has been high, it is still an incredibly divisive party that has drawn in a deeply negative reaction

Political violence is expected to be a massive problem on Sunday night

‘Violence and intimidation have no place in our society,’ Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X in response to the attack. 

Political violence is expected to be a massive problem on Sunday night. French police will deploy 30,000 officers to quell any riots in the street. 

France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said 5,000 cops will be stationed in and around Paris alone to ‘ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem’. 

The night of the first round of the historic election saw violence erupt across France, but particularly in Paris, in response to the far-right massive win. 

Barricades designed to keep crowds controlled were overturned as countless protesters poured into Place de la République and climbed the iconic statue showing the personification of France, Marianne.

Bins were uprooted, with their contents spread all over the tarmac and promptly set alight as protesters circled touting banners, flares and projectiles.

Supporters of French far right leader Marine Le Pen react after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies during the first round on Sunday 

Many still remain bitter over a sudden decision which risks plunging France into chaos weeks before it hosts the Olympics

A man holds a board reading the French flag doesn’t belong to fascists as tens of thousands people gather in Paris to protest against the far-right

Young women trying to enjoy nights out in the city were forced to stand behind armoured cops who forced back the activists with batons and tear gas as firefighters were called in to douse the blazes set by protestors.

Macron’s decision to call snap elections three years ahead of schedule following his party’s drubbing in European polls has been seen as the biggest gamble of his political career.

Many still remain bitter over a sudden decision which risks plunging France into chaos weeks before it hosts the Olympics and at a time when Macron’s government is playing a key role in backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

The unpopular president has disappeared from public view, with his last public comments made in Brussels last week, and centrist candidates have been putting the picture of Attal, not of Macron, on their leaflets.

Even if the RN fails to win an absolute majority, a broad coalition formed by Macron would itself risk being toppled in a no-confidence motion if backed by both the LFI and RN.

Bins were overturned and set alight, spreading acrid smoke into the air

Young women trying to enjoy nights out in the city were forced to stand behind armoured cops

Anti-riot police officers push back protesters who had set piles of rubbish alight

Demonstrators take part in a rally against the RN following the announcement of the results of the first round of the French parliamentary elections at Place de la Republique in Paris on June 30, 2024

Fabien Roussel, the leader of France’s Communist Party, which is part of the NFP, appeared to open the door to taking part in a grand coalition.

‘What I want is not to cause chaos in my country, France must be governable,’ he told France 2 TV.

But le Pen claimed that the ‘biggest dream’ of Macron was to have a ‘single party’ taking in all forces from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) to right wing Republicans (LR) but excluding the RN.

Macron however made clear at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that there was ‘no question’ of the LFI being part of any coalition, according to a participant.

Le Pen, who is expected to make a fourth attempt to win the Elysee in 2027, admitted there had been problems with a handful of RN candidates, one of whom had to withdraw after a picture of her emerged wearing a Nazi Luftwaffe hat.

She said: ‘There are statements that have been inadmissible and will involve sanctions and there are also statements that are just clumsy.’