Far-right on the rise in France as anti-immigration parties win majority of the vote in by-election

Two far-right candidates in France have won 50 per cent of the vote in a single by-election.
The success on Sunday night was described as a 'warning shot' to mainstream politicians who are accused of letting ordinary people down over issues like immigration.
The National Front (FN), which wants to call a halt to new arrivals, got 40.4 percent of votes in the first round of Sunday's by-election in the south easter town of Brignoles.

Growing in strength: President of the French far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during a visit in the French northeastern village of Brachay

The result led to FN leader Marine Le Pen today saying that her party is 'already the main party in France'

An independent extreme right candidate meanwhile won 9.1 per cent of the votes.


The result led to FN leader Marine Le Pen today saying that her party is 'already the main party in France.'
Its support has been rising consistently, with recent opinion polls suggesting it could take around 16 percent of votes in municipal elections scheduled for next March.

Removed: French policemen stand guard as members of the Roma community leave a camp in Roubaix last week

Evicted: The entrance to a Roma camp as its residents were evicted

Analysts say economic mismanagement by the ruling Socialists, including record unemployment, have all contributed to the FN's success.
But it is the contentious issue of immigration, especially from eastern European and Muslim countries, which the FN particularly focuses on.
It says that spiralling crime figure are the result of lax EU policies which allow thousands of undesirables to enter France.
Shanty towns full of Roma gypsies have, for example, begun springing up on the edges of major cities like Paris and Marseille.

The spokesman for the Socialist party, called for the left to unite against the rise of the FN. He said the by-election result was a 'warning shot' ahead of the municipal elections - first real electoral test since Francois Hollande's Socialists came to power

Past: Mrs Le Pen's father is the notorious convicted racist and anti-Semite Jean Marie Le Pen

David Assouline, spokesman for the Socialist party, called for the left to unite against the rise of the FN.
He said the by-election result was a 'warning shot' ahead of the municipal elections - the first real electoral test since Francois Hollande's Socialists came to power last year.
'It proves what we have been saying for months,' Mr Assouline added. 'When the FN stands strong and tall, the left must absolutely be united from the first round.'
The opposition UMP party, which won 20.9 percent of votes in Sunday's by-election, will battle against the FN candidate in the second round of the Brignoles poll on October 13th.
The Socialist party had no candidate in the by-election and had publicly supported the far-left PCF party, which was eliminated in the first round.
Mr Assouline said his party now called on Brignoles residents to vote for the UMP candidate in the second round rather than let the FN in.
Mrs Le Pen's father is the notorious convicted racist and anti-Semite Jean Marie Le Pen.
She has attempted to move the party away from his image, toning down some of its more extreme views.
Annoyed at constant references to the FN's extremism, Mrs Le Pen said last week: 'We are absolutely not a party of the right, those who think that are making a total analytical error.
'I'm considering seeking a judicial ruling that the description 'extreme right' is a pejorative term deliberately used to damage the Front National. For journalists to label the FN like this is unethical, biased and intellectually sloppy.'

The success on Sunday night was described as a 'warning shot' to mainstream politicians who are accused of letting ordinary people down over issues like immigration