In a surprise triumph over the populist National Rally, France’s left-wing political alliance came first in Sunday’s final round of parliamentary elections. The New Popular Front coalition of leftists won 182 seats, President Emmanuel Macron’s party won 168 seats, and the National Rally and its allies won 143 seats.

Many in the Western media are celebrating the National Rally’s failure to secure a parliamentary majority. In some ways we agree that it is a good thing that the National Rally will not control all policy. For, while National Rally seeks to secure France’s borders, which is a desperate need, it is also economically statist and parochial and anti-American, which are regrettable. It cannot properly be called right-wing at all, let alone “far right,” which is the insult thrown at it by leftist legacy news media.