Le Pen right wing party expects local election gains, public to snub Hollande

The National Front (FN) and the conservative UMP, led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy, are both expected to do well. A Harris Interactive opinion poll for France's parliamentary TV channel released on Friday put the FN on 29 percent, the UMP on 28 and Hollande’s Socialist party on 19, according to Reuters.

"It has been already shown that the Front National is a great force locally. The party has also shown how it can unite 10 million French people in the national elections. So, I hope that victory tonight will show that it’s a great force in local politics,” Le Pen said, after casting her vote in the northern city of Henin-Beaumont.

Sticking to core issues such as the economy and immigration, Le Pen has managed to garner a lot of support amongst a French population who have become weary with the current government. Hollande, whose popularity ratings are at record lows, is expected to lose about half the 61 departments that his Socialist Party currently controls. There are 101 departments in France.

"We'll get stuck into the regions and then we're off to invade the Elysee (presidential palace)," Le Pen declared this week, AFP reports.

The leader of the Front National has seen her party enjoy success in the recent European elections. They secured 25 percent of the votes and took over a dozen municipalities in local elections last year. The party also secured a historic victory in 2014, winning two seats in the upper house of parliament for the first time.

"Everyone is suffering here and as soon as you suffer, you want a radical solution," said Patrick Vasseur, a news vendor in a village in northern France told AFP. "It's the economy that is boosting the FN, the lack of work, the increase in taxes."

However, given the nature of the two-round election, it is expected the FN will only take control of a few departments. The second ballot, which takes place on March 29, is likely to see many UMP and Socialist voters switching allegiance to whichever party has the best chance of winning, in order to keep Le Pen’s right party out of power.

Fifty percent of the seats will be contested by women following recent reforms made by the Socialist Party, which made it compulsory for councils to elect both a female and male councilor, with both candidates standing on the same ballot, which is known as a ‘binome,’ meaning ‘partner’ in English.

Turnout figures are expected to be low, with around 53 percent of those registered saying they won’t cast their vote, according to an Ifop poll for Paris Match, iTele and Sud France, according to Reuters.