News Digest: Almost 100,000 Brits granted Residence Permits and Macron has lost his Majority

Emmanuel Macron has lost his majority in the French National Assembly following Sunday’s vote which saw more than half of voters abstain, with a turnout of 46.23%. Five National Assembly deputies were elected last Sunday in the first round, leaving 572 seats to be decided in this second round.

For the first time since the 1988 French legislative election, the president of France only has a relative majority in Parliament, with Macron’s coalition Ensemble! winning less than half of the votes resulting in a relative majority. President Macron will now be forced to negotiate with the opposition, notably the conservative Republicans.

Ensemble! won 245 seats – falling short of the 289 needed for absolute majority and down from the 350 seats Macron and his allies won in 2017, with the newly-formed left-wing NUPES securing 131 seats in the lower parliament. Le Pen’s Rassemblement National claimed a record 89 seats, significantly more than the 8 deputies secured for the party in 2017.

According to the French Ministry of the Interior, 99,644 residence permits were issued to British nationals in 2021, with the October 2021 withdrawal agreement deadline pushing Brits who wanted to stay in France after Brexit to apply for residency. This figure is up from only 7,686 in 2020, a year which saw Covid-19 affect travel and plans for international relocation. It was reported in October 2021 that 165,400 applications had been made for residence permits by Brits via the withdrawal agreement – meaning that of those applications, 60% have resulted in the issuing of cartes de séjour.

Multiple departments have been placed as at risk of thunderstorms and several continue to be on alert for heatwaves as thunderstorms are expected along the Atlantic coast and much of south-western France. Strong winds of up to 105km/h have been recorded in Bordeaux and there are warnings of hail and intense rainfall.

🔶 27 dpts en #vigilanceOrange

Restez informés sur https://t.co/rJ24zzmmy4 pic.twitter.com/sCNd4qu4VZ

— VigiMétéoFrance (@VigiMeteoFrance) June 21, 2022

Statistics released by INSEE reveal the most popular baby names of 2021, with boy name Gabriel reclaiming its spot at number 1 after being knocked from the top position which it had held since 2015 by Léo in 2020. Jade remains the most popular girl name with 3,802 born in 2021. Until 1993, French parents had to choose from a list of acceptable names, now they are free to choose first names but local officials can still challenge the names.

Here are the top boy and girl names of 2021 in France:

1. Gabriel
2. Leo
3. Raphael
4. Louis
5. Arthur
6. Jules
7. Mael
8. Noah
9. Adam
10. Lucas

1. Jade
2. Louise
3. Emma
4. Ambre
5. Alice
6. Rose
7. Anne
8. Alba
9. Romy
10. Mila