A dramatic new era began in France on Sunday June 30th when Marine Le Pen’s hard-right party took a massive lead in first-round voting for the lower house of parliament. Her National Rally (rn) has never been so close to governing France. Early results suggested that the party had secured 34% of the vote, according to Ipsos, a polling group. Ahead of a final run-off vote on July 7th, this puts it on course to win 230-280 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, up from 88, and become easily the biggest group in parliament. A result at the upper end of that range would put them in touching distance of an overall majority of 289.

The poll was marked by the highest first-round turnout since 1997. Candidates from the rn came top in hundreds of constituencies across the country: in its old geographical heartlands of the north-eastern rustbelt and the south of France, as well as places with little history of support, such as Brittany. In her own constituency around Hénin-Beaumont, in the mining basin of northern France, Ms Le Pen was elected outright in the first round.

This is not good. The center does not appear to be holding, and the French Far Right appears to be surging.