French far-right falls short in regional elections ahead of presidential vote

FILE PHOTO: Campaign posters of Renaud Muselier, Les Republicains (LR) conservative party member , president of the regional assembly and candidate for the regional elections in the southern Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region (PACA), and Thierry Mariani, candidate for presidency of PACA region part of French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party ticket, are seen on electoral panels ahead of the second round of the French regional?elections in Nice, France, June 24, 2021. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

PARIS (Reuters) -The French far right again failed to win a single region in elections on Sunday, exit polls showed, depriving its leader Marine Le Pen of a chance to show her party is fit for power ahead of next year's presidential election.

The southern Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA) had been seen as the far-right Rassemblement National party's best opportunity to secure its first-ever regional power base, but parties from the left to right united in a "republican front" to keep it out.