RN says it can form French Senate group
Party leader Jordan Bardella says RN and allies have won enough seats for a group.
.jpg){kind=link}
France’s Rassemblement National says it can form its own group in the Senate for the first time. The claim follows indirect elections in which half of France’s Senate seats were renewed on Sunday, but the official result had not yet been fully established by the end of the evening.
RN party leader Jordan Bardella said on Sunday evening that his party, together with allies from the Union des droites pour la République, had won enough seats to form a group in the Senate. It would be the first time that France’s radical-right Rassemblement National formed a formal parliamentary group in the chambre haute.
The French Senate has 348 seats. In this election, 178 seats were up for renewal, spread across 58 departments, one constituency for French citizens abroad and several overseas territories. Senators are not elected directly by the public, but by an electoral college made up mainly of locally and regionally elected representatives.
According to Reuters, RN had three senators before the vote. At least ten members are needed to form a parliamentary group. Bardella wrote on X that RN was receiving support from Éric Ciotti’s UDR. Since the final distribution of seats had not yet been published on Sunday evening, for now this remains a political announcement by the party leadership.
The possible formation of a group gives RN a new position in a parliament traditionally dominated by the centre-right. A group can organise consultations, appoint spokespersons and make a party’s parliamentary presence more visible. That does not automatically mean RN can control the Senate: the Republicans remain the largest group, and decisions are generally reached through shifting majorities.
The result carries extra weight because of the 2027 French presidential election. According to opinion polls, Marine Le Pen is considered one of the leading contenders in the first round. A Senate group does not change the rules of that presidential election, but it could give the party greater institutional recognition and access to parliamentary debates.
The Senate has less direct influence over government formation in France than the National Assembly, but it plays an important role in legislation and constitutional amendments. The chamber also represents France’s municipalities and departments. The precise composition of the new groups will become clearer in the coming days, when elected senators formally announce their affiliations.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- RN says it can form a group in the French Senate for the first time.
- The Senate has 348 seats and is indirectly elected.
- The official final distribution of seats was not yet fully known on Sunday evening.
Left
Arguments From this perspective, an RN group normalises a party that challenges the boundaries of liberal democracy and the rule of law. Its growth should therefore primarily be met with protection for minorities and credible social policy.
Values Equality, anti-discrimination, social protection and European cooperation.
Consequences More institutional space for RN could make the party more influential and move its ideas further into the political mainstream.
Centre
Arguments A Senate group should be judged by its parliamentary work, not only by its ideological profile. At the same time, its growth requires robust scrutiny against the constitution, the rule of law and parliamentary procedures.
Values Institutional continuity, governability, accountability and democratic rules.
Consequences The group could broaden the debate, but also make coalition-building and legislation more complicated.
Right
Arguments The formation of a group is seen as a consequence of growing voter support and local legitimacy. From this perspective, a party that receives sufficient support should be given the same parliamentary space as other parties.
Values Popular sovereignty, national decision-making, order and equal parliamentary treatment.
Consequences Greater institutional influence could force RN to take responsibility for concrete legislation instead of only opposing from the sidelines.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved with corrections · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The core is based on a current Reuters report and official information from the French Senate. The formal distribution of seats was still uncertain and has therefore not been presented as established fact.
- confirmed Jordan Bardella says RN and its allies have enough seats for a Senate group. — Reported by Reuters. source
- confirmed In the election, 178 of the 348 Senate seats were renewed. — According to the Senate’s official election information. source
- confirmed RN had three senators before the election. — Mentioned in the Reuters report. source
- confirmed The official result had not yet been fully established on Sunday evening. — Reuters reported that the results were not yet official. source
1 correction(s) applied
- Was: RN is forming a parliamentary group in the French Senate.Now: RN says it and its allies have enough seats for a parliamentary group. (The official distribution of seats had not yet been established.)
Editor's note
What is certain is that Bardella announced the formation of a group and that the election concerned 178 of the 348 seats. The official distribution of seats was not yet fully known; the group’s formation has therefore been presented as a claim by the party.Sources
- France: Le Rassemblement national aura un groupe au Sénat — Reuters via Boursorama
- Élections sénatoriales 2026 — Sénat
- Élections sénatoriales : soirée électorale le dimanche 27 septembre 2026 — Sénat
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „frankrijk senaat”
- NU.nl — „frankrijk senaat”
- De Telegraaf — „frankrijk senaat”