Angry and left behind: rural voters back French far-right in challenge for Macron

FILE PHOTO: Marine Le Pen, French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party leader and member of parliament, poses for a family photo with newly-elected lawmakers from the National Rally party at the National Assembly in Paris, France, France, June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

BRIARE, France (Reuters) - Marie-France Chouffeur, a 52-year old farm worker from a small town in central France, had never voted for the far-right before April's presidential election, when she backed National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen against incumbent Emmanuel Macron.

This month, she was one of many rural voters who helped make the anti-immigration, eurosceptic RN the second-biggest party in parliament, increasing its seats more than tenfold and denying Macron's centrists the absolute majority that would have helped ease through his planned reforms.