Julia Molony: A spirit of angry protest is nothing new in France – but people’s anger is now curdling into hatred

Resistance to high-handed Parisians is as old as the hills, but today’s vote has a different feeling

'Liberty Leading the People' by Eugene Delacroix

Julia Molony

As France heads to the polls in the second round of their parliamentary elections today, the extreme right look poised to continue their steady advance on the National Assembly.

The success of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (or National Rally) in the first round of the legislative elections, where they took 34pc of the vote, triggered a political convulsion across the nation.