Far-right National Front Triumph in France as Voters across Europe Turn to Extremists and Anti-EU Parties

Jubilant: French National Front leader Marine Le Pen reacts
to exit polls revealing her party won the election

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Exit polls have placed the hardline party as the country's most popular / The ruling socialists appeared to trail well behind with just 14 per cent / FN leader Marine Le Pen heralded victory for 'sovereign people of France' / Prime Minister Manuel Valls described result as 'a shock, an earthquake' / Le Pen called for French parliament to be dissolved to 'control borders'

The far-right National Front has topped polls in France as countries across Europe turned to extremist and anti-EU parties.

Exit polls suggested the anti-immigrant party led by Marine Le Pen had taken more than a quarter of votes, pushing President Hollande’s Socialist Party into third place with just 13 per cent.

It is the first time that the party – which wants to drastically cut immigration and reduce the influence of Islam – has come first in a nationwide French election in its 40-year history. Projections suggest it could take 25 Euro seats out of 74.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the National Front victory was ‘a political earthquake in France’, while ecology minister Segolene [sic] Royale said: ‘It’s a shock on a global scale.’

The result was the most striking of a number of successes for far right and anti-EU parties across Europe.

Chillingly, there were indications that a neo-Nazi candidate for the NPD party could be elected in Germany - giving the far-right a foothold for the first time in decades. » | Daniel Martin, Whitehall Correspondent | Sunday, May 25, 2014