Dr Bertrand Bourgeois speaks in-depth with host Amy Mullins about the French elections for the National Assembly called by President Emmanuel Macron. With the far-right National Rally or Rassemblement National leading in the polls, closely followed by the far-left coalition the New Popular Front or Nouveau Front Populaire (comprising La France Insoumise or France Unbowed, the Greens, Communists, and Socialists), and Macron’s centrist coalition Ensemble, including his Renaissance party coming in third – was it a miscalculated gamble to go early? Why is Jean-Luc Mélenchon such a polarising figure and will he be the far-left's Prime Ministerial candidate? Will the National Front succeed in garnering the most votes on June 30 and July 7 and has Jordan Bardella successfully remade the party's image? What do the parties and coalitions stand for and why is the far-right becoming more “mainstream” in French politics? Dr Bertrand Bourgeois is a Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Melbourne.

Image: At a demonstration on 15 June 2024 in Paris where supporters of the Nouveau Front Populaire were denouncing the far-right – Rassemblement National (Photo by Jeanne Menjoulet/Flickr)