EU Elections 2014: 'Toxic' Marine Le Pen Blamed for Geert Wilders Defeat

Geert Wilders (right) with Marine Le Pen last year

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: EU election defeat for Geert Wilders blamed on his decision to link with French Front National rather than Nigel Farage

A disastrous European Union election vote for the Dutch far-Right has been blamed on a "toxic" Marine Le Pen and is seen as vindication of Nigel Farage's refusal to work with the French Front National.

The result is a blow to Miss Le Pen and will be widely seen as the consequence of her failure to break from the Front National's extremist past, a legacy embodied by her father Jean-Marie who remains an MEP and honorary president of the party.

His close alliance with Miss Le Pen is seen as the key factor in the unexpected defeat of Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) on Thursday night after Dutch exit polls put him in fourth place behind all the pro-EU Dutch political parties. » | Bruno Waterfield in Scheveningen and Henry Samuel in Paris | Friday, May 23, 2014