The main concerns here are inflation, insecurity and, in general, the feeling that life is not as good as it used to be. Both Martin and Philippe realize that the National Rally may not be able to deliver on its promises, but that does not deter them.
“But one thing is certain, I will not vote for Macron,” added Philippe, a retired client advisor, who also declined to give his surname. “He’s very arrogant, very much like a young man,” he said.
They conservatives simply “gave up.”
The success of the National Rally represents a seismic shift in the region’s political traditions.
“This was Gaullist territory, in every sense of the word [conservative]“The party has its own party leadership, with powerful local barons like François Fillon… and a traditional right-wing rural electorate,” said Serge Danilo, editor-in-chief of local daily Le Main Libre.
Fillon’s fortunes were killed in a fake job scandal – in which he was fined and given a suspended prison sentence – after it emerged that he had paid his wife lavishly for the role of a fictitious political assistant. In a sign that the landmarks are moving, the National Rally party almost took control of the Fillon constituency during the last parliamentary elections in 2022, but lost to a leftist candidate by a narrow margin of votes.
Right-wing dominance has also declined with the departure of large employers such as white goods manufacturers Moulinex, as well as small factories scattered throughout the countryside.
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