The Rise of the National Front
After Marine Le-Pen's run for president in 2017, we look at the early successes of the Front National, now called the National Rally.
In Vitrolles in the South of France, the National Front have just won an outright victory in local elections of more than 50%. This was the fourth mayorship that the National Front won, and the beginning of Front's rise to the mainstream. The rhetoric surrounding the Front is much the same as it is today; the Front and their supporters deny that they are racist. stating that they are simply defending French culture and values. Critics on the other hand deem the party racist and fascist in its thinking, and immigrants and people of colour in the town are fearful of the Front's new influence, recounting tales of intimidation, police brutality and systematic racism already recurring in the area. ABC Australia reports from Vitrolles itself, documenting the early success of a party that would soon come to dominate French politics.
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