Vive la France! After a hugely disappointing first round contest two weeks ago, which made it look as though the far-right National Rally would form the next French government, a united left has emerged victorious.
The New Popular Front – an allusion to the successful anti-fascist Popular Front of the 1930s – has become the biggest bloc in the French Assembly, beating Marine Le Pen’s party and Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping.
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Even more extraordinary is that the NFP gained momentum over the weeks of these elections by offering a radical and ambitious offer to the nation, with voter turnout higher than it’s been since the 1990s. They couldn’t rely on apathy and exhaustion with the incumbent: they had to defeat a project of hate with one of hope.
The left’s impressive win must be the start of a movement
The NFP’s programme is proudly socialist, conscious of the urgency of the climate crisis and addresses much of the social subsidence that’s made room for the growth of the far right.
As well as promising to reverse the neoliberal reforms of the Macron years, their ‘legislative contract’ calls for a series of transformations, including what we would recognise as a form of Green Industrial Revolution, greater worker control of French corporations and massively increased investment in public infrastructure.
The NFP’s foreign policy makes international peace (not least in Gaza and Ukraine) a priority. Funding for their project would come from a raft of new measures to redistribute from the growing French billionaire class and excessively profiteering energy companies, including new wealth and exit taxes.
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In their programme for change, one can see the influence of the NFP’s constituent parts. The radical left, organised labour, the green movement and the left flank of Third Way liberalism have come together to defeat an unthinkably dangerous common enemy. Together, they’ve produced a durable project that truly addresses the depth of crisis that we face in Europe.
Though there’s cause for celebration, there’s some uncomfortable truths in these results. The clearest problem is that the NFP did not win a majority. Their programme will not be delivered in full, and it’s still uncertain whether the new French Prime Minister will be from the left at all.
Secondly, the far right still, by quite some measure, came first by vote share. 37% of French voters, ten million people, supported far-right candidates on Sunday. It’s only by quirk of their FPTP-with-extra-steps electoral system that tactical voting and an inefficient distribution prevented this translating into seats. The left alliance’s impressive win must be the start of a movement, not the end of one.
Lessons from across the Channel
Off the back of a stunning Labour victory last week, it might feel premature to already be thinking of the future. But Keir Starmer understands that his government must deliver the kind of change that people can feel in their day-to-day life, or risk opening the door further to the forces of reaction.
In Britain, our poundshop LePenites have a foothold in parliament. While nowhere near the strength of the National Rally in France, Reform is growing. We’re also yet to see the effect this politics will have on a cannibalised and directionless Conservative Party. We could see a mainstream far-right presence in Britain ready to win an election in five years’ time.
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If Labour is not bold, if Labour does not deliver visible results for working people, we may well find ourselves in a dark place.
What should we do about it?
It’s tempting to see the big political alliance of the left, the union of the progressive movement, as the power in-and-of-itself that denied the far right access to government. This is only half the picture.
Across France, in local party institutions, trade unions and social movements, progressives have been organising to build deep roots. This is the strategy that led the NFP to winning seats even in the heart of the National Rally’s North East strongholds.
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The far right feeds on apathy, and from those who’ve been excluded from having a stake in society. Big political shifts aside, it’s incumbent on all of us in the Labour Party – Constituency Labour Parties, councillors, Labour MPs that now have coverage all across the nations and regions – to build durable local alliances for change. Have conversations with citizens, be visible, hold community events. Show up in solidarity with striking workers. Organise on the sharp edges of food poverty and in defence of valuable community spaces.
The way we beat the far right is by giving people a stake in the mission of the labour movement. Give people a reason to care about their natural environment, a reason to think they can build power in their workplace and that they can enjoy a full and happy life in retirement. Give people hope.
Alongside this, Labour must honour the broad church culture that’s historically enriched it. Britain’s always had a left alliance: it’s the Labour Party.
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In the last few years, however, our party’s leadership has moved us away from social movements, from those organising against climate change, even – occasionally – from the labour movement. It’s necessary to unite progressive forces, not divide them: especially in the face of the far right.
With a Labour government and a movement of hundreds of thousands, we have the tools. Let’s hope we’re up to the task.
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