NEWS ANALYSIS. By alternately voting for either the far right or the mainstream right to defeat the left, voters in the recent municipal elections have illustrated the two parties' ideological convergence.

Failing to win Paris, Lyon or Nantes, the LR party swung left-wing strongholds such as Brest, Clermont-Ferrand and Besançon to the right.

The far-right Rassemblement National was defeated in Marseille, Toulon and Nîmes, cities that seemed within reach. But the party consolidated its stronghold areas in France's…

Outcome suggests that when mainstream parties cooperate they can still block Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally

NEWS ANALYSIS. By alternately voting for either the far right or the mainstream right to defeat the left, voters in the recent municipal elections have illustrated the two…