In the 2022 Presidential run-off election, the far-right candidate Marine Le pen received 41.5% of the vote. The far right has successively increased its share of the vote in France in almost every major election in France since 2012. These are dangerous and terrifying trends, consistent with the global pattern of far-right coming within striking distance of taking power. But there is an important discussion on the socialist left internationally about the extent to which parties like the French Rassemblement National (RN) are (or could become) not just far-right – but fascist. This session will explore these arguments, and the role of the political centre in giving succour to the far-right.