The National Front fared poorly in the 1973 legislative elections, receiving 0.5% of the national vote, although Le Pen won 5% in his Paris constituency. In 1973, the party created a youth movement, the Front national de la jeunesse (National Front of Youth; FNJ). The rhetoric used in the campaign stressed old, far-right themes and was largely uninspiring to the electorate at the time. Otherwise, its official program at this point was relatively moderate, differing little from the mainstream right's. Le Pen sought the "total fusion" of the currents in the party, and warned against "crude activism." The FNJ were banned from the party later that year. The move towards the mainstream cost it many leading members and much of its militant base.
The National Front fared poorly in the 1973 legislative elections, receiving 0.5% of the national vote, although Le Pen won 5% in his Paris constituency. In 1973 the party created a youth movement, the Front national de la jeunesse (National Front of Youth; FNJ). The rhetoric used in the campaign stressed old, far-right themes and was largely uninspiring to the electorate at the time. Otherwise, its official program at this point was relatively moderate, differing little from the mainstream right's. Le Pen sought the "total fusion" of the currents in the party, and warned against "crude activism." The FNJ were banned from the party later that year. The move towards the mainstream cost it many leading members and much of its militant base.