French opposition lawmaker elected Senate speaker

The French Senate on Wednesday elected a member of the opposition as its speaker, after the upper house made a stinging swing to the right in weekend elections.

The election of Gerard Larcher of the right-wing UMP as Senate head puts him in a powerful position, as he would constitutionally be first in line to take over as head of state should leftwing President Francois Hollande resign, fall ill or be removed from office.

Sunday’s Senate elections saw the right claw back a majority and the far-right National Front enter the house for the first time with two seats.

While the Senate does not wield as much influence as the lower house National Assembly — which has the final say on voting bills through — the swing to the right comes as another blow for Hollande, who is the most unpopular president in modern French history.

Hollande’s Socialist government is struggled with an economic crisis in France, where zero growth, sky-high unemployment, a bulging deficit and heavy taxes are taking their toll.

Rightwing parties had controlled the Senate since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. But in 2011, the upper house flipped to the left in a historic move that planted the seeds for then-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s eventual defeat to Hollande in 2012 presidential elections.