Spotlight on France
No regions but more seats for Front National in Nord Pas-de-Calais Picardie
Issued on:
Play - 10:00
France's far-right Front National failed to win a single region in yesterday's elections, despite record results in the first round. FN leader Marine le Pen was candidate for the Nord Pas de Calais-Picardie region - an economically depressed area in the north of France and which used to be a bastion of the left. Her party's anti-immigration, anti-Europe stance had already won over two of the region's towns including Henin-Beaumont. But Le Pen has found scaling up her family start-up more difficult than planned. Alison Hird reports on the FN's attempt to conquer the North and why its failure may in fact be good news for the party.
