French Far-Right National Rally Wins 15 Senate Seats, Forms Group for First Time

France's far-right National Rally party won 15 seats in the country's indirect Senate elections, enough to form a parliamentary group in the upper house for the first time in the party's history, according to a report by Anadolu Agency.

Marine Le Pen, the party's leading figure, described the result as a "historic victory," the report said, marking a significant expansion of the party's institutional presence beyond the National Assembly, where it already holds a large bloc of seats.

The left-wing France Unbowed party also secured representation in the Senate for the first time, winning a single seat, according to the report. French senators are elected indirectly by an electoral college made up largely of local officials, a system that has historically made it harder for parties like the National Rally to gain a foothold in the chamber compared with the directly elected National Assembly.

Anadolu Agency's report did not provide a full breakdown of how the remaining Senate seats were distributed among France's other parties, nor did it detail the total number of seats contested in this round of elections.

The results add to the National Rally's growing institutional footprint in France ahead of future national elections, as the party has expanded its influence in successive electoral contests in recent years.