French Senate Elections: National Rally Set to Form First-Ever Group With UDR Allies

France's far-right National Rally party has, for the first time in its history, secured enough senators in the September 27 elections to form its own parliamentary group in the Senate, according to reporting on the results.

The Senate, which is elected indirectly by local officials rather than by direct popular vote, has traditionally been dominated by parties of the center and the right. The National Rally's ability to now form a group there marks a shift in a chamber that had previously remained largely out of reach for the party.

The new group is reported to include the party's allies from the UDR, a smaller right-wing formation, combining forces to reach the threshold required to constitute an official group within the Senate.

Forming a group gives a party greater institutional standing, including additional speaking time, committee representation, and resources within the chamber, so the milestone carries practical significance for the National Rally's influence in the Senate beyond its symbolic value.

The result follows years of growing electoral strength for the National Rally in French national and European elections, and its arrival as a formal group in the Senate extends that trajectory into a legislative body it had not previously penetrated to this degree.