More than 200 candidates pull out in bid to block Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in French election

Marine Le Pen's National Rally came out ahead in the first-round vote after President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble on a snap election backfired. Photo: Getty

Sudip Kar-Gupta

Opponents of France’s National Rally (RN) stepped up their bid to block the far-right party from power yesterday as more candidates agreed to pull out of this weekend’s run-off election to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote.

More than 200 candidates have confirmed they will not stand in Sunday’s second-round for France’s 577-seat national parliament, according to local media estimates. They had until 6pm yesterday to make their choice.