France’s ‘hard left’ has been demonised – but its agenda is realistic, not radical | Julia Cagé and Thomas Piketty

The New Popular Front will improve ordinary people's lives - and it's an effective, economically sound alternative to the far right

The first round of legislative elections in France produced an unprecedented surge of support for the far right. Next Sunday, 7 July, the National Rally (RN) and its allies could potentially make it to power. Not just with a relative majority, but - and there is a significant probability of this - with an outright one.

Some may argue that the far right is here and we should simply get used to it. Far-right parties have won elections in recent years in other European countries, including Italy and the Netherlands. But we cannot get used to it. A far-right victory represents a major threat to our basic social contract and our liberties. We face the implementation of policies that discriminate against foreigners, migrants, women, minorities and more. Because it has no credible economic platform, the far right will revert to the only thing it knows - the exacerbation of tensions and the politics of hate.

Julia Cage and Thomas Piketty are the authors of A History of Political Conflict: Elections and Social Inequalities in France, 1789-2022

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