The clear-cut victory for the centre-right in France's parliamentary elections rounds off a dramatic episode in the country's political history. A lacklustre campaign by the Socialist Party candidate, Mr Lionel Jospin, in the first round of the presidential elections last April gave a sensational boost to the far right leader, Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen.
He was overwhelmingly defeated in the second round by Mr Jacques Chirac. The left failed to recover in confidence or coherence during the parliamentary campaign. France is now set for five years of rule by the right on a platform of reduced taxation, action against crime and changing priorities throughout the European Union set by similarly minded parties which have reaped victories in other member-states.
The changing mood is echoed in the country's World Cup failure, in which lingering hopes posited in the symbolic multiculturalism of the team that won the competition in 1998, seem now to have been confirmed at the national political level. A major challenge facing the new regime will be to demonstrate that its policies can preserve these multicultural values. On the face of it this result will facilitate that task, because of the new coherence between presidential and parliamentary leaderships, not seen since the mid-1980s. Based on last night's exit polls, Mr Le Pen's National Front party has failed to gain representation in the National Assembly. But the electoral turnout is down and many of Mr Le Pen's supporters will feel alienated by the arbitrary effects of a non-proportional electoral system. The interim government appointed by President Chirac has competed in the political space occupied by Mr Le Pen, with the result that crime, security and immigration will become priorities for the new administration.
France's European policies are also set to change. Reducing taxation is difficult to square with budgetary disciplines necessitated by the single currency. The Common Agricultural Policy, regarded as a central interest by President Chirac, comes up for review over the next year. Frances's approach to the future of European integration, will shift, along with other centre-right EU governments, after a period of social democratic predominance. The international task facing the new government is just as challenging as the national one in these changing circumstances.