The Porosity between the Mainstream Right and Extreme Right in France: Les Droites Décomplexées under Nicolas Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen’s Leadership

The purpose of this article is to analyse the political realignment of the French right since the mid-2000s by examining the shifting degree of porosity between the mainstream and extreme right. The article first questions the extent to which Front National (the National Front, FN) has been de-demonised under Marine Le Pen's leadership. It then explains how Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (the Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) has lurched to the right under Nicolas Sarkozy's leadership, leading to an increased competition between factions within the party. Among the most right-wing factions, Droite Populaire (the Popular Right, DP) has acquired a degree of visibility which exceeds its actual influence within the UMP. The DP's electoral ambition to challenge the FN on its own ground has been less than successful. By examining bridges between and beyond right-wing parties' apparatuses, this article reveals the ideological continuities on the right of the right and explains how extreme ideas have made major inroads into mainstream politics.