Scientists still face uncertainty after far-right defeat

Scientists in France are relieved that the right-wing party National Rally was defeated in the parliamentary elections. But the absence of a clear winner presents uncertainty for scientists, and many do not think that the new government will make a positive difference to research and higher education, writes Barbara Casassus for Nature.

National Rally was expected to achieve a majority after winning the first round of voting on 30 June, and scientists feared that this could spell cuts for research budgets, restrictions on immigration and the introduction of climate scepticism into France’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly. But the party surprisingly came in third place in the run-off vote, trailing the left-wing New Popular Front and the centrist Ensemble – an alliance that includes President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party. Neither of the two leading groups won an outright majority, and they must now negotiate to form a government.

“We have avoided a catastrophe,” says Alain Fischer, president of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. “It can now be hoped that international scientists will continue to work in France.” But it is unclear whether the result is a real win for researchers, he adds. “We do not know who will govern, but I don’t expect there to be much change in policy for us. Science and education were absent from the European and French parliamentary election campaigns, and budget constraints mean that research will not be a priority.”
Full report on the Nature site