The neo-Nazi National Front has scored deeply disturbing successes in Sunday's mayoral elections in France. One town was won outright by the NF and pundits believe the party is very likely to win four more mayoralties in second round run-off this Sunday. A few attempts by mainstream political commentators to play down the achievement are misplaced. It is a nonsense to point out that there were 37,000 mayoral contests taking place . The majority of them are in small towns and tiny villages. Moreover the National Front did not target every election. It chose to devote its campaigning and finances to a few carefully selected constituencies where it knew that its racist and xenophobic policies would be most favorably received. This strategy appears to have payed off handsomely. The significant northern industrial town of Hénin-Beaumont was won outright by the NF challenger, easily ousting the socialist incumbent. It is also expected that neo-Nazi challengers will win Avignon, Fréjus, Forbach and Béziers. This triumph for the party that Marine Le Pen inherited from her father, should be cause for the greatest concern. When Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the party in 42 years ago, it was a classic fascist organization with cohorts of thugs, who sought confrontation with political rivals and rampaged through immigrant areas, targeting in particular France's large Muslim minority. In the early days there was also outright anti-Semitism. It is notable that in recent years, indeed most particularly since the daughter took over in 2011, that the NF has cleaned up its image. The traditional neo-Nazi hatred of Jews has been expunged from the rhetoric, as coarse and brutish. The muscle-bound minders have been consigned to back rooms, to be replaced by sharp-suited, plausible PR men. They preach the party's insidious racist message as if it were the most rational response to consistently high unemployment, falling living standards and changes to France's still extremely generous welfare and social security program. Immigrants, especially Muslim immigrants have flooded into France, taking scarce jobs, if they are not sponging of the honest French taxpayer. Moreover, they refuse to integrate with mainstream society and are a hotbed of terrorism, disease and social unrest. This wicked message is clearly seducing a growing number of voters, who blame both the past government of Nicolas Sarkozy and the current socialist administration of François Hollande, for a deep economic recession. Little reflection is given to the crippling reality that with its mere 35-hour working week, France has hobbled its international competitiveness. A measure that was designed to create jobs has in reality destroyed them. If the NF does well in Sunday's mayoral run-offs, there will be fears that it will do even better in May during elections for the European parliament, joining other far-right parties that have built their political base on racial hatred and unemployment. This may, however, prove to be the last huzzah for all of Europe's smooth-talking, right-wing political bigots. Economic recovery is under way. France may need big reforms before it benefits fully. But the platform of joblessness that has sustained neo-fascists is set to be thrown down. The only risk is that the sanctions campaign following Russia's Crimean annexation could impact on the EU's economic recovery. Thus, knowingly or not, Vladimir Putin would have thrown a lifeline to hate-filled European racists.
