Le Pen doubles her share in French overseas territories

Marine Le Pen may have lost in the French presidential election to Emmanuel Macron but the far-right candidate finished far ahead of the incumbent in some of France's overseas territories, doubling or in some cases even trebling her vote share.

In the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique and in French Guiana, the National Rally leader scored 69.6%, 60.8% and 60.7% respectively. She won in the Mayotte 59.1% and R union 59.5% of the Indian Ocean constituencies. Le Pen went out of her way to mention overseas voters on Sunday night, thanking our compatriots in the overseas territories who placed me first with an extraordinary force. We will not forget this forgotten France. The far-left candidate Jean-Luc M lenchon had finished a comfortable first in most of the overseas territories in the first round, and the scale of Le Pen's victories on Sunday took many analysts by surprise.

Combeau told the paper that this was more than just a punishment vote. It shows a degree of genuine adherence to the discourse and positions that are the hallmark of the National Rally, particularly around social issues such as the cost of living, wages and housing. The separation between the mainland and the overseas d partements and territories was most marked during the epidemic, with fierce resistance to vaccination in the latter leading to rates sometimes less than half of those in the former.

Macron's decision to mandate jabs for healthcare, transport and emergency service workers, and France's health pass requiring proof of vaccination, recovery or a negative test to visit cafes, restaurants and cinemas was deeply unpopular, leading to violent demonstrations and the deployment of additional police.

Olivier Serva, a Guadeloupe MP, said last year that the situation on the island was quasi-insurrectional and reflected weakening state authority. Mait Hubert M Toumo, a trade unionist, said that the protests reflected the depth of suffering, inequality, poverty and exclusion felt by the people Patricia Braflan-Trobo, a professional mediator and sociologist in Guadeloupe, and French Caribbean citizens do not support the National Rally's positions Marie-Luce Penchard, a centre-right politician and former minister from the island, said the government's overall record in the overseas territories was good but there had been strategic errors and lack of compassion on the part of the Macron administration. She said we no longer know how to talk to our overseas citizens.