Politics

Elections to the European Parliament saw the hard right making the most gains overall, though the European People’s Party, representing the centre-right, and the Socialists and Democrats, on the centre-left, remain the biggest voting blocs. Green parties lost a quarter of their seats. In France Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally took a third of the vote, more than double that of Emmanuel Macron’s party, Renaissance. In a surprise announcement, the French president dissolved the National Assembly and called a snap election. Mr Macron lost his parliamentary majority in 2022, and says the country now “needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony”.