With a presidential election in 18 months and incumbent François Hollande scoring only about 30 percent in job approval ratings, Le Pen looks more and more like a viable candidate for France’s top job.
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Marine Le Pen stood in Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, an economically depressed northern region that used to be a Socialist stronghold.
Sunday’s polls were held under tight security and under a state of emergency following the Paris attacks that killed 130 on November 13.
If we fail, Islamist totalitarianism will take power in our country.
Victory in the second round on December 13 would give her a springboard for her bid to be president in 2017.
The left-wing Socialists, President Francois Hollande’s party, came in third with 23.5 percent, according to France 24.
In previous years, the centre-right opposition and governing Socialist party had worked together to pass the Front National, however, Sarkozy said there would be no “tactical alliances” in the second round for these elections.
Nearly every region saw candidates from the three main parties qualify for the runoff.
Though Le Pen has attempted to steer her party away from some of its more extreme rhetoric of the past, she has been typically uncompromising on the immigration issue.
Party leader Marine Le Pen has demanded a crackdown on Muslims in France.
Marine Le Pen, a lawyer by training, welcomed the “magnificent result”, saying it proved the FN was “without contest the first party of France”.
“The verdict of the French people tonight is clear”, Sarkozy said Sunday night.
Jacques Sapir, Director of Studies at the French School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences told Sputnik that Le Pen could win in the first round of presidential election, however French political system would allow her rivals to achieve victory in the second one.
The arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Europe and the exploits of IS, which has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, have bolstered the discourse of the National Front.
Socialist leaders will begin talks after the first results on Sunday to decide whether to withdraw from some second-round battles, while the Republicans’ strategy meeting is set for Monday.
Long considered a pariah, the National Front has never had such significant political power.
The other is an ideologue: her 25-year-old niece, a photogenic Roman Catholic traditionalist with a stance on abortion, homosexuality and Islam that critics say is risky or sectarian.
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“We must hear and understand the profound exasperation of the French people”, he said.
