{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Le Pen hopes vote will push National Front to forefront of French politics' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54be32d8eafeecae139cd9' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54be32d8eafeecae139cd9' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nLe Pen hopes vote will push National Front to forefront of French politics\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eMarine LePen sees political gold in the abandoned coal mines of northern France that once pumped life, jobs and an identity into places like Henin-Beaumont - a bleak town that the far-right leader says is the avant-garde of her...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eMarine LePen sees political gold in the abandoned coal mines of northern France that once pumped life, jobs and an identity into places like Henin-Beaumont - a bleak town that the far-right leader says is the avant-garde of her anti-immigration party's march to power.\u003cbr/\u003eLePen has been digging the terrain of discontent around France, and in Henin-Beaumont - a Socialist bastion for decades - she is counting on a win in municipal elections that begin Sunday, the first of a string of electoral tests she hopes will catapult her National Front to the forefront of French political life.\u003cbr/\u003eThe red brick town of Henin-Beaumont, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Paris with a population of 26,000, is a perfect showcase for the National Front. \u003cbr/\u003eDark, eerily majestic hills of coal refuse, known as terrils, dot the horizon, a reminder of an economically vibrant past when coal was king. \u003cbr/\u003eFrench labourers and immigrants from Europe and Muslim North Africa flocked to the area in the 19th century for back-breaking coal mining, famously depicted in Emile Zola's \"Germinal.\"\u003cbr/\u003eToday, the unemployment rate is nearing 18 percent, many shops in the nearly lifeless town centre are shuttered and people complain loudly about crime. \u003cbr/\u003ePolls show the leftist workers' bastion is likely heading for a far-right flip-flop - after former mayor Gerard Dalongeville was convicted of embezzling public funds and left the town with a huge deficit. \u003cbr/\u003eDalongeville, appealing his conviction, is running again. \u003cbr/\u003eSo is current Mayor Eugene Benaisse, supported by the Socialists.\u003cbr/\u003eNational Front candidate Steeve Briois is trying to win over voters with promises to install security surveillance cameras in the town, make police work nights and create a rapid-action police unit.\u003cbr/\u003eIn Henin-Beaumont, the League of Human Rights distributed tracts warning of the \"danger\" of a National Front victory.\u003cbr/\u003eMuslims in the town refused to comment to visiting reporters, in an apparent sign of growing concern.\u003cbr/\u003eThe March 23 and 30 elections for mayors and town councillors could shake up the profile of many of France's 36,000 villages, towns and cities, most significantly in Paris. \u003cbr/\u003eLePen's party, which disdains the European Union and globalisation and fears that Islamic culture will subvert French civilisation, is aiming to leverage the municipal vote to build a grassroots base upon which to draw ahead of May elections for the European Parliament and the French presidential vote in 2017. \u003cbr/\u003eShe wants to officially scrub away the racist stigma that has long clung to the National Front and ultimately to upend the French political system by winning broad support for the party's \"patriotic\" doctrine.\u003cbr/\u003eThe National Front hopes to benefit from widespread disappointment in the forces that have dominated French politics for decades. \u003cbr/\u003eScandals are engulfing former President Nicolas Sarkozy and his fractious conservative party. \u003cbr/\u003eMeanwhile the Socialists, who wrested major cities from Sarkozy's UMP in the last local elections in 2008, are suffering from President Francois Hollande's deep unpopularity and a government that has failed to create jobs or improve the economy.\u003cbr/\u003eWith a dearth of trained officials, the National Front cannot compete on equal footing with leading parties. \u003cbr/\u003eBut it is still is running candidates in 596 towns - a party record. Even winning a handful of local municipalities would represent a sharp disavowal of mainstream politics. \u003cbr/\u003eAnd with or without mayoral wins, LePen hopes to use good scores to put 1,000 councillors into city governments and thereby influence policies.\u003cbr/\u003eNational Front founder Jean-Marie LePen made it to the final round of presidential elections in 2002 but was crushed in the runoff. \u003cbr/\u003eThe party, financially strapped from the presidential fight, did poorly in the 2008 municipal elections.\u003cbr/\u003eAlong came Marine LePen, Jean-Marie's daughter. \u003cbr/\u003eA 45-year-old mother of three, she took over the National Front in 2010, working to clean its racist and anti-Semitic image and shoo away jack-booted followers in an attempt to make it a legitimate political alternative, not just a catch-all for protest votes.\u003cbr/\u003eShe's been so successful that her party's tirades against Muslim immigration are mimicked on the right and, more subtly, on the left. \u003cbr/\u003eMarine LePen placed a strong third in the 2012 presidential race, and the National Front won two parliamentary seats.\u003cbr/\u003eHigh unemployment and crime rates, corruption, and a visible Muslim population, are like calling cards for the National Front - and the extreme right elsewhere in Europe. \u003cbr/\u003eSwitzerland's recent winning referendum to cap immigration was a morale boost for the National Front and extreme-right parties across Europe.\u003cbr/\u003eLePen told The AP that she thought Islamic Sharia law would take over French justice within three decades if \"mass immigration\" wasn't stopped.\u003cbr/\u003eThe National Front would run towns it wins \"like a good father,\" she assured, hoping for victories in southern France, including towns where the party's parliament members are implanted.\u003cbr/\u003eBut some remember four extreme-right victories in southern France in 1995 municipal elections, and worry. \u003cbr/\u003eCorruption, deficits and bids to impose National Front ideology, such as banning books from libraries and adding National Front literature, proved disastrous.\u003cbr/\u003eUnder the National Front, Henin-Beaumont would likely implement mainstream policies to provide a sanitised window to the broader French electorate.\u003cbr/\u003ePrime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault urged voters this week to \"do everything\" to keep National Front candidates from reaching city halls. \u003cbr/\u003eHenin Beaumont, France - 14 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e1. Sunrise in Henin-Beaumont\u003cbr/\u003e2. Cars parked on street in Henin-Beaumont\u003cbr/\u003e3. Church steeple in town\u003cbr/\u003e4. Posters of local election candidates\u003cbr/\u003e5. People walking on the street \u003cbr/\u003e6. SOUNDBITE (French) Rene Val, Voter:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The National Front is not worse than any other (political party). They have some very good ideas. But the problem is, as I've said for the second time, there has to be a mix of everyone, because each one (party) has some good ideas.\" \u003cbr/\u003eParis, France - 21 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e7. Mid of two political magazines, Marianne with headline reading (French) \"Who is really running France?\" and L'Express  with headline reading (French) \"The FN (National Front) on the attack.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Close of L'Express cover\u003cbr/\u003eHenin Beaumont, 14 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (French) Sophie Quillet, Voter:\u003cbr/\u003e\"In this city nothing really changes. It's always the same thing you know. They say they are going to do things and, in fact, nothing much comes of it. But maybe with the FN (National Front) it could move.\"\u003cbr/\u003e10. Supporters and media surrounding Marine Le Pen, president of the Front National and local candidate Steeve Briois at rally\u003cbr/\u003e11. Le Pen and Briois with hands clasped in the air \u003cbr/\u003e12. SOUNDBITE (French) Marine Le Pen, President of the Front National:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The 'UMPS' (Le Pen combines acronyms for Sarkozy's UMP and Hollande's PS) is on one side, the hub of all the scandals, and the other, a trade union of liars. Let's benefit from the municipal elections to severely punish the UMP and the PS because, as far as I am concerned, they are two dead ends in French politics.\"\u003cbr/\u003eFILE: Paris, France - Dates unknown\u003cbr/\u003e13. Various of French President Francois Hollande at ceremony\u003cbr/\u003e14. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaving UMP Party headquarters and greeting supporters\u003cbr/\u003eParis, France - 13 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Moisi, French Political Scientist:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Well it all looks as if the Socialist Party and the UMP Conservative Party had been allied in the last few weeks to make sure that the National Front would emerge as the victorious force for the municipal elections. It's not that Marine Le Pen has done too much or too little. It is that the classical, traditional parties have really gone wrong, have seen to have gone mad as if they wanted to make sure that populism was a rising force in France.\"\u003cbr/\u003eParis, France - 21 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e16. Close up Liberation newspaper with headline reading (French) \"Abstention the trap\"\u003cbr/\u003e17. Close of Figaro newspaper with headline reading (French) \"Nicolas Sarkozy: What I want to tell the French\" and Liberation newspaper\u003cbr/\u003eParis, France - 13 March, 2014 \u003cbr/\u003e18. SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Moisi, French Political Scientist:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Marine Le Pen had nothing to do. She just had to stand still and wait for the Left and the Right to commit suicide.\"\u003cbr/\u003eParis, France - 20 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e19. People walking through Paris market\u003cbr/\u003e20. SOUNDBITE (French) Vox pop, Claude Lepvrier, Voter:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We have to worry about this trend. The trend of the extreme Right. Personally I don't subscribe at all to this (the National Front's political views) but it is unfortunately the trend we are seeing in Europe from a general perspective.\"\u003cbr/\u003eHenin Beaumont, France - 14 March, 2014\u003cbr/\u003e21. 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