Marine le Pen seeks to unseat Emmanuel Macron in next year's presidential elections - GONZALO FUENTES /REUTERSMarine Le Pen's far right party candidates failed to win any region in Sunday's final round of France’s regional elections. This was because the mainstream conservatives dealt a blow to her presidential ambitions.The poll in Provence was highly contested and was seen as a test to see if the far-right leader could win votes ahead of next year's election expected to pit her against President Emmanuel Macron.Thierry Mariani, a former conservative Minister, hoped to become the first elected leader in France from Ms Le Pen’s National Rally.Two exit polls indicated that Mr Mariani won around 45 percent of the vote in the Southwest region. Renaud Muselier, the conservative incumbent, took roughly 55 percent.Ms. Le Pen quickly accepted the defeat. She stated that she was looking forward to next year’s presidential election and added that it "appears more so than ever to allow for changes in politics and politicians."However, Sunday's results could prove to be a significant blow to Ms Le Pen’s presidential ambitions, if they are confirmed.Even though she tried to soften her party's image, which was once led by Jean-Marie Le Pen her father, many voters still view it as an unacceptable extremist option.According to exit polls, overall, candidates from mainstream or centre-right parties retained seats in all regions, while the far-right received only around 20% of the vote nationally.With 38.1 percent of national ballots, the mainstream right won the polls. This gave its candidates an edge before the presidential election in April 2022. The vote was 34.8 percent for the leftist and green parties."The far-right was stopped in its tracks, and we have pushed them back sharply," Xavier Bertrand (centre-right winner in the northern Hauts de-France region), told his supporters as the results began to trickle in.Bertrand is a presidential candidate for the conservative party. He said that his victory against the extreme-Right in contested territory was a sign of encouragement.He said, "This result gives my strength to seek out the nation's votes," he continued.Continue the storyMainstream conservatives also won the Paris region, which was held by incumbent Valerie Pecresse. She received 44 percent of the vote, ahead of a union left-green politicians.Ms. le Pens RN has around 10 French towns, but has never won any of France's 13 continental regions. These regions have a large budget for education, transport, culture, and tourism.These and assemblies for 96 counties were also up for grabs at two separate polls held on Sunday.Its candidates have made security a priority. They rallied behind police unions that claim they are facing increasing violence and called for tougher prison sentences as well as a moratorium regarding immigration. These fall under the authority of the national government, not regional councils.Despite the fact that Ms Le Pen's threat may have succeeded in pushing political debates towards the right, her strategy did not work at the polls.She blamed organisational failures for the poor results.Many voters complained that they hadn't received their candidate programmes before the second round. Some voting offices were also late because of a shortage of staffing."I would like to first of all thank the voters, when everything urged them not to vote: a total lack of information, a catastrophic and erratic organization of the polls by Ministry of Interior, an end of an endless lockdown with regard to midterm elections," Ms Le Pen stated from Nanterre, France, her headquarters.Analysts warned, however, that it is difficult to predict the outcome of regional elections in terms of presidential election turnout, particularly with historic lows.Only one third of registered voters actually made it to the polling stations. Similar abstention rates were seen in the first round of voting, which took place on June 20.
