The party emerged as a result of the rapprochement and subsequent merger of three far-right organizations: "new order" nationalists, advocating national socialism, anti-parliamentarism and anti-Semitism, national populists led by Jean-Marie Le Pen and supporters of the so-called catholic traditionalists. Under the influence of the New Right (Nouvelle Droite) school of political thought, the National Front's doctrine began to include the ideas of neo-liberalism and "direct democracy."
The party did not fare well until the Socialist government that was established in France in 1981. The National Front enjoyed massive support in the 1986 elections when proportional representation electoral system was introduced, giving a chance to win 10 percent of the votes and secure 35 seats in parliament.
The leadership of Marine Le Pen was marked by her efforts to reshape the party's image and distance it from the far-right and her father's statements, calling genocide a mere "episode" of World War II, justifying the collaborationist pro-Nazi Vichy regime and making xenophobic verbal attacks on Muslims. Marine Le Pen condemned the genocide and softened the traditional Catholic disapproval of abortions and sexual minorities.
She dismissed some party members, including her father Jean-Marie Le Pen. In August 2015, the National Front expelled its founder, who, in turn declared he no longer had a daughter.
With Marine’s arrival, the party’s authority increased among French voters. It reached its peak during the 2014 elections to the European Parliament where the National Front got 24 seats. In the same year, two party's members were elected to the Senate, the upper house of the parliament, for the first time in history.
Le Pen's election program focused on France's sovereignty, plans to leave the European Union and restore border control, toughen immigration rules and fight against terrorism. Le Pen opposed budget austerity, condemned the labor reform, sought to lower the retirement age and advocated rapprochement with Russia.
For Sunday's parliamentary elections, the National Front and its leadership have revised the party's manifesto, giving up plans to exit the European Union and reintroduce the franc as France's national currency. Their new policy is to renegotiate the EU agreements to secure more control over the budget and the banking system for France.
