Rassemblement National enters the Senate with parliamentary strength for the first time

For the first time in the history of the Rassemblement National (RN), the party enters the Senate, the second chamber of parliament, in Paris with parliamentary strength. This is the result of the partial elections on Sunday and a symbolic success for Marine Le Pen seven months before the presidential elections.

So far, her party has only been represented by three senators in the House. “This is a historic victory and an important stage,” celebrated Le Pen. The results had exceeded her hopes.

RN benefits from shifts in town halls

The Senate has 348 seats for a term of six years. Half of the seats are allocated every three years. The senators are not directly elected, but are chosen by an electoral college, which is mainly made up of local elected representatives as well as representatives at national and regional levels. The RN benefited from the postponements in the local elections in March, in which the party won many seats in the town halls.

In order to achieve the parliamentary group's strength of ten seats, Le Pen is dependent on the splinter party of her new ally Eric Ciotti. The former chairman of the Republicans entered into an alliance with the RN in 2024 and was then expelled from the party. Ciotti's candidates were able to prevail in the strongholds in the south of the country.