France’s far-right National Rally has won enough seats in Sunday’s Senate elections to form its own parliamentary group in the upper chamber for the first time in its history.

The party and its allies from Eric Ciotti’s Union of the Right for the Republic emerged from the indirect ballot with at least 14 seats between them, comfortably clearing the 10-senator threshold needed to form a group. Nine National Rally senators were elected on Sunday, according to an AFP tally, on top of the three who won seats in 2023.

Marine Le Pen called the result a “historic victory” and a “major step,” saying results had exceeded expectations. Party president Jordan Bardella said the party’s senators would sit with their UDR allies.

The breakthrough follows the party’s gains in March municipal elections, which mattered because senators are elected by lawmakers and local officials rather than the public. Before Sunday, the party held just three of the 348 Senate seats.

The traditional right and centre remain dominant in the chamber, but the result gives the far right a permanent organised presence in French institutions months before the presidential election, where opinion polls show Le Pen leading the first round.