Centrist Emmanuel Macron may have got re-elected for a second term as the French President, but his vote share did not increase even in one department (an administrative division consisting of communes) in 2022. Whereas Marine Le Pen’s vote share increased across the country giving the far-right their best-ever result. The result has also revealed an increasing level of voter apathy. The 72% turnout was the lowest since 1969. Also a significant share of voters intentionally cast invalid votes to register their anger. The rise of the Right in Europe’s politics is not limited to France. An analysis of 18 nationalist parties across Europe shows that the far-right parties have secured a considerable vote share in many countries and have increased their voter base in some of them.
Le Pen’s rise
The map shows the increase in Le Pen’s vote share across France’s departments in 2022 compared to 2017.
While her vote share increased across all the 96 departments analysed, the rise was more pronounced in the rural south.
Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode
Voter apathy
The chart shows the % share of registered voters who voted for a candidate (dark green), the % share who came to vote but cast an invalid or blank vote (light green) and the % share who were absent (grey). Abstentions were at their highest level in 2022, while the share of valid votes have dwindled.
Right influence
The dot plot shows the vote share secured by nationalist parties* in the most recent elections and the one before that. While the vote share was considerably higher across many nations, in many countries they are on an increasing trend. The name of the country is marked in bold while the party name is in italic.
Source: Idea.int, Interior Ministry of France; (*) As identified by the BBC
Also read: Macron’s re-election, a victory with challenges
