LONDON (AP) — Britain’s upcoming general election is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. Many analysts believe it will be one of the country’s most consequential elections since the end of World War II.
Ahead of the July 4 vote, The Associated Press takes a look back at other landmark U.K. elections since the war.
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FILE - John Profumo, who resigned as Minister of War in the British Cabinet over his affair with model Christine Keeler, leaves his car on returning to his London home, June 18, 1963. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024, is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. A sex scandal rocked the Conservative government and the British establishment, adding to the general feeling that the party had lost touch. Minister for war, John Profumo, resigned for lying to Parliament over his affair with model and show girl Christine Keeler. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson with the Beatles, from left Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney, during the Variety Club of Great Britain's Show Business Personality award for 1963 presentation ceremony in London, England, March 19, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s upcoming general election is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. Many analysts believe it will be one of the country’s most consequential elections since the end of World War II.
FILE - John Profumo, who resigned as Minister of War in the British Cabinet over his affair with model Christine Keeler, leaves his car on returning to his London home, June 18, 1963. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024, is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. A sex scandal rocked the Conservative government and the British establishment, adding to the general feeling that the party had lost touch. Minister for war, John Profumo, resigned for lying to Parliament over his affair with model and show girl Christine Keeler. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson with the Beatles, from left Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney, during the Variety Club of Great Britain's Show Business Personality award for 1963 presentation ceremony in London, England, March 19, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson waves as he and his wife arrive at Euston Station, London, from his constituency in Liverpool, Oct. 16, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson raises his hands after retaining his seat in the House of Commons and winning the general election, outside the ballot counting rooms rooms at the Huyton Secondary School in Huyton, Lancashire, England, Oct. 15, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister, Alec Douglas-Home.
That has echoes of the current Conservative government, which has been in power for 14 years and is now on its fifth prime minister of the period, Rishi Sunak.
Douglas-Home had only become prime minister the year before, when his predecessor Harold Macmillan stepped down following a huge reversal in fortune. The buoyant economy had faltered, and Macmillan had been snubbed by French President Charles de Gaulle in his application for Britain to join the recently formed European Economic Community.
A sex scandal rocked his government and the British establishment, adding to the general feeling that the Conservatives had lost touch. Macmillan, known as “Supermac,” stepped down soon after his minister for war, John Profumo, resigned for lying to Parliament over his affair with model and showgirl Christine Keeler.
So the 1964 election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, who was buzzing with ideas such as harnessing the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy.
Wilson also had the common touch, particularly important in the new world of television and with Britain showing signs of a cultural renaissance in the “Swinging Sixties.” Wilson was more than able to hold his own with The Beatles, as evidenced in March 1964 when he presented the Fab Four an award.
When the election came about on Oct. 15, 1964, Labour was widely expected to return to power for the first time since 1951. “13 Wasted Years" was its message. But the party didn't do as well as many had expected, and Labour only won a majority of four in the House of Commons.
Wilson, who at 48 became the youngest British prime minister in 70 years, would need a bigger majority to get major legislation through — and he got it 18 months later when he called a snap election.
Wilson lost the election in 1970 to Ted Heath's Conservatives, but would go on to serve a second term as prime minister from 1974 to 1976, becoming the longest-serving Labour premier in the 20th century. By that second period in office, Wilson was clearly exhausted and lacking the dynamism of his early years.
Britain was widely considered to be the “sick man of Europe” and it was fertile ground for radical change. Step forward, Margaret Thatcher.
FILE - Christine Keeler, photographed in London in 1963. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024, is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. A sex scandal rocked the Conservative government and the British establishment, adding to the general feeling that the party had lost touch. Minister for war, John Profumo, resigned for lying to Parliament over his affair with model and show girl Christine Keeler. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - John Profumo, who resigned as Minister of War in the British Cabinet over his affair with model Christine Keeler, leaves his car on returning to his London home, June 18, 1963. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024, is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. A sex scandal rocked the Conservative government and the British establishment, adding to the general feeling that the party had lost touch. Minister for war, John Profumo, resigned for lying to Parliament over his affair with model and show girl Christine Keeler. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson with the Beatles, from left Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney, during the Variety Club of Great Britain's Show Business Personality award for 1963 presentation ceremony in London, England, March 19, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson waves as he and his wife arrive at Euston Station, London, from his constituency in Liverpool, Oct. 16, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Britain's Labour Party leader Harold Wilson raises his hands after retaining his seat in the House of Commons and winning the general election, outside the ballot counting rooms rooms at the Huyton Secondary School in Huyton, Lancashire, England, Oct. 15, 1964. Britain’s upcoming general election on July 4, 2024 is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. In 1964, the Conservative Party had been in power for 13 years and was on its fourth prime minister. The election was a race between the aristocratic Douglas-Home and Labour leader Harold Wilson, a young politician who was buzzing with ideas such as the need to harness the “white heat of technology” to modernize the ailing British economy. (AP Photo/File)
PARIS (AP) — France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course.
The results confirmed polling that showed the party — with a history of racism and xenophobia and once shunned by the mainstream — is no longer taboo, confined to the fringes of French politics. There remains another torrid week of campaigning before the decisive final voting Sunday, and whether the National Rally will be able to win an outright majority and form France's first far-right government since World War II remains uncertain.
Marked by high turnout of nearly 68% that reflected the high stakes, voters handed the Marine Le Pen’s National Rally a strong lead, with about 33% of the vote. The number includes the votes from a group of conservative candidates of The Republicans party who had allied with the far-right party in the first round. The New Popular Front, a leftist alliance, finished second with about 28%. The president’s centrist group came third with around 20%, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry.
When Macron dissolved the National Assembly on June 9, after a stinging defeat at the hands of the National Rally in French voting for the European Parliament, the deeply unpopular and weakened president gambled that his rivals wouldn't repeat that success when the country's own fate was in the balance.
He and his allies, as well as politicians on the left, are still hoping they can head off an outright win by the National Rally, and horse-trading began Monday, with some efforts to block far-right candidates taking shape. The leftist coalition said it would withdraw its candidates in districts where they arrived in third position in order to support other politicians opposed to the far right. Macron’s centrist alliance also said some of its candidates would step down before the runoff.
In Sunday's voting, 78 of the National Assembly's 577 seats were won outright, by candidates who got more than 50% of the vote in their district, according to French newspaper Liberation's analysis of the Interior Ministry data. Of those, 38 were from the National Rally, including Le Pen herself.
That triumph provided an additional boost for the far-right parties in Europe as Viktor Orbán’s Hungary takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency for six months.
To underline her party’s triumph, Le Pen said that National Rally lawmakers would meet at the parliament on Monday and symbolically claim their seats.
Addressing a jubilant crowd waving French tricolor flags of blue, white and red, Le Pen called on her supporters and voters who didn't back her party in the first round to push it over the line and give it a commanding legislative majority. That scenario would make the party's young leader, Jordan Bardella, prime minister — and force him and and Macron into an awkward power-sharing arrangement.
Macron, first elected in 2017, has said he will not step down before his second term expires in 2027.
“The French have almost wiped out the ‘Macronist’ bloc,” Le Pen said Sunday night. The results, she added, showed voters’ “willingness to turn the page after 7 years of contemptuous and corrosive power.”
If the National Rally is able to form a government, it has promised to dismantle many of Macron's key domestic and foreign policies, including taking a more confrontational approach to the European Union and stopping French deliveries of long-range missiles to Ukraine. The National Rally has historical ties to Russia, which invaded its neighbor two years ago.
At home, the party's plans include the rollback of Macron's pension reform that raised the retirement age and promises to boost voters' spending power without clearly detailing how it would pay for the pledge that could also spook European financial markets.
National Rally opponents fear for civil liberties if it takes power. Macron himself warned that the far right could set France on a path to civil war. Its plans to boost police powers and curb immigration also alarm many, including minorities. The National Rally has long been hostile toward France’s Muslim community.
Surk reported from Nice, France.
Follow AP's coverage of elections at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections
People climd on the statue at Republique plaza during a protest against the far-right National Rally party which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal delivers a speech in the courtyard of the Prime Minister's residence, Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally party, answers reporters outside the party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Marine Le Pen, leader the French far-right, arrives at the National Rally party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Supporters of French far right leader Marine Le Pen react after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
People gather at Republique plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
People gather at Republique Square to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
People gather at Republique plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks at Republique square during a protest against the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron leave the voting booth before voting in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. France is holding the first round of an early parliamentary election that could bring the country's first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II. The second round is on July 7, and the outcome of the vote remains highly uncertain (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron takes a selfie with supporters after voting in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. France is holding the first round of an early parliamentary election that could bring the country's first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II. The second round is on July 7, and the outcome of the vote remains highly uncertain (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP)
People gather at Republique plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
French far right leader Marine Le Pen reacts as she meets supporters and journalists after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
French far right leader Marine Le Pen gestures after delivering her speech after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
