Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP)

Michel Barnier and Lucie Castets

John Mullen looks behind the no-confidence motion in the French assembly and what this means for the struggle against the far right and for fundamental change.

Tempest interviewed Marxist activist John Mullen about anti-capitalist organising and the need for unity to overcome divisions within the left in France.

After France’s recent parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron refused to allow the Nouveau Front Populaire left alliance to form government. Tempest interviewed Marxist activist John Mullen about the challenges facing the left in France following the formation of the new right-wing government.

protest and man's face in inset

French president Emmanuel Macron has named right-wing politician Michel Barnier as Prime Minister, ignoring the popular vote that gave the left-wing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire the largest group in the National Assembly, reports John Mullen.

elected deputies

Whatever government is formed in France will be a minority government. But mass mobilisation will be key to how things play out over the coming month, reports John Mullen.

Marine Le Pen and Jean Luc Melenchon

Journalist and author Pablo Stefanoni spoke to Green Left’s Federico Fuentes from Paris about the rise of France's far-right National Rally and how the left stopped it winning the parliamentary elections held over June 30 and July 7.

three people talking

French President Emmanuel Macron does not plan to appoint a new Prime Minister until at least mid-August and is holding out hope he can cobble together a coalition and block the left from government, writes John Mullen.

protest at place de la republique in Paris July 18

Paris-based anticapitalist activist and Green Left contributor John Mullen spoke to German publication Marx21 on July 12 about the July 7 French election result and the immediate challenges for the left.

Green Left News podcast Ep 44, July 12, 2024

Isaac Nellist and Riley Breen discuss Fatima Payman's decision to resign from Labor over its support for Israel's genocide in Gaza, the recent elections in Britain and France and speak to artist, academic and National Tertiary Education Union member Markela Panegyres about the University of Sydney's draconian Campus Access Policy. 

crowd in the Place de la Republic on July 7

Millions of people are feeling tremendous relief at the French election results, writes John Mullen. But vigilance and mobilisation are required to prevent a victory being turned into a defeat for working people.

two men with French flag in background

The victory of the far right in the first round of elections in France is a severe setback. However the left has also made real advances. John Mullen outlines an anti-capitalist perspective on the deep political crisis in France.

candidate addressing a crowd

While elections are not at the centre of class struggle, the formation of left-wing electoral alliance the New Popular Front has inspired a wider and deeper anti-fascist mobilisation in France, argues John Mullen.