Plans to rename and “profoundly transform” the Front National after Marine Le Pen’s defeat by Emmanuel Macron in France’s presidential runoff will meet resistance and could expose a potentially damaging divide in the far-right party, members and analysts have said.
Le Pen hailed her score of 10.6m votes, 33.9% of the total and the highest ever recorded by the party, as “massive and historic” on Sunday night. But it has disappointed activists and some senior figures who had set a target of at least 40% as the measure of a successful campaign.
