France’s National Rally and allies clear threshold for first Senate caucus
National Rally leaders said the party and its allies won enough seats in France’s September 27, 2026 Senate election to form their first caucus.
In short
- National Rally leaders said the party and its allies won enough seats in France’s September 27, 2026 Senate election to form their first caucus.
France’s far-right National Rally and its allies won enough seats in the September 27, 2026 Senate election to form a parliamentary caucus for the first time, party leaders said, according to Reuters.
The result clears the minimum requirement of 10 senators for a group in the upper chamber. National Rally president Jordan Bardella said the party would form the group with Eric Ciotti’s Union of the Right for the Republic.
The election covered 178 of the Senate’s 348 seats. Senators are chosen indirectly by an electoral college that includes national lawmakers and local elected representatives, rather than through a nationwide popular vote.
A recognised caucus provides procedural powers, including the ability for its leadership to request votes. The development gives National Rally a stronger parliamentary platform ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election.
[Reuters’ September 27 report](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/09/27/french-far-right-leaders-say-they-have-won-enough-seats-to-form-senate-caucus) corroborates the caucus threshold reported in the Guardian source item. The [Senate’s election portal](https://senatoriales2026.senat.fr/) provides official information on the indirect voting system.
