ABSTRACT
On 21 April 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen created arguably the greatest electoral shock in the history of the French Republic. Winning almost 17 per cent of the presidential poll, the support of some 4.8 million voters, the leader of the Front National (FN) beat the Prime Minister and Socialist front runner, Lionel Jospin, to challenge the neo-Gaullist incumbent, Jacques Chirac, for France’s highest political office. The predicted run-off between centre-right and centre-left was thus converted into a perceived contest between the Republic and the extreme right, with French streets becoming the theatre for the most extensive public protest to be orchestrated against a political figure in France. The ‘Republic’ won the second ballot resoundingly, but Le Pen’s participation in it and his capacity to attract – and retain – the support of over one voter in six represented the strongest performance ever by a far-right candidate or party in a French national election.
