Editing National Rally (section)

==== Turmoil and split of the MNR (1997–2002) ====
[[File:Bruno Megret bordeaux.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Bruno Mégret]] and his faction broke out from the FN to form the MNR party]]
In the [[1997 French legislative election|1997 legislative elections]], the FN polled its best-ever result with 15.3% support in [[metropolitan France]].{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=264}}{{sfn|DeClair|1999|p=104}} The result showed that the party had become established enough to compete without its leader, who had decided not to run, in order to focus on the 2002 presidential election.{{sfn|DeClair|1999|p=103}} Although it won only one seat in the National Assembly, in [[Toulon]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.lesoir.be/toulon-la-vitrine-du-fn-sur-l-hexagone_t-19970529-Z0DRXN.html |title=Archives |publisher=Archives.lesoir.be |access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-date=28 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228104404/http://archives.lesoir.be/toulon-la-vitrine-du-fn-sur-l-hexagone_t-19970529-Z0DRXN.html |url-status=live }}</ref> it advanced to the second round in 132 constituencies.{{sfn|Shields|2007|pp=264 f}} The FN was arguably more influential at that time than it had been in 1986 with its 35 seats.{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=275}} While Bruno Mégret and [[Bruno Gollnisch]], favoured tactical cooperation with a weakened centre-right following the left's victory, Le Pen rejected any such "compromise."{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=276}} In the tenth FN national congress in 1997, Mégret stepped up his position in the party as its rising star and a potential leader following Le Pen.{{sfn|Shields|2007|pp=271 f}} Le Pen however refused to designate Mégret as his successor-elect, and instead made his wife Jany the leader of the FN list for the upcoming European election.{{sfn|Shields|2007|pp=277–279}}

Mégret and his faction left the FN in January 1999 and founded the [[National Republican Movement]] (MNR), effectively splitting the FN in half at most levels.{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=279}}<ref name="oxfn">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQXLgP6CZBkC&pg=PP356|chapter=National Front (France)|title=The concise Oxford dictionary of politics|first1=Iain|last1=McLean|first2=Alistair|last2=McMillan|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University|isbn=978-0-19-920516-5|page=356|access-date=6 July 2021|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927060006/https://books.google.com/books?id=KQXLgP6CZBkC&pg=PP356|url-status=live}}</ref> Many of those who joined the new MNR had joined the FN in the mid-1980s, in part from the ''Nouvelle Droite'', with a vision of building bridges to the parliamentary right.{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=279}} Many had also been particularly influential in intellectualising the FN's policies on immigration, identity, and "national preference". Following the split, Le Pen denounced them as "extremist" and "racist".{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=279}} Support for the two parties was almost equal in the [[1999 European Parliament election in France|1999 European election]], as the FN polled its lowest national score since 1984 with just 5.7%, and the MNR won 3.3%.{{sfn|Shields|2007|p=280}} The effects of the split, and competition from more moderate nationalists, resulted in their combined support being lower than the FN result of 1984.{{sfn|Shields|2007|pp=280 f}}