PARIS — Members of France’s far-right National Rally are asking serious questions of leader Marine Le Pen after the party’s poor performance in regional elections.
So far, Le Pen doesn’t have any answers.
The party chief has not been seen or heard in public since admitting defeat after the National Rally (RN) failed to gain control of any region last Sunday, dealing a blow to her presidential election hopes.
The RN also lost more than 100 regional councilors in the elections, which the party leadership had hoped would be a springboard for next year’s presidential poll.
Le Pen’s critics on the right say the poor performance is a result of her strategy of trying to make the party less extreme, by ditching policies such as exiting the euro, and even changing the party’s name.