Rassemblement National sympathizers supporting death penalty in France 2014-2022

In France, the death penalty has been abolished for more than thirty years. François Mitterand made abolition one of his campaign promises in March 1981, even though polls at the time indicated that a large proportion of French people were still attached to capital punishment. The bill carried by Robert Badinter was voted in the National Assembly on September 18, 1981, winning by 369 votes against 113, then in the Senate on September 30. On October 9, 1981, the law was promulgated.
Nowadays, the reinstatement of the death penalty remains a politically polarizing issue. While slightly less than half of the French are in favor of it, this is the case for most of the supporters of Marine Le Pen's party. More than 80 percent were in favor of reinstating the death penalty in 2022, but this number varies significantly depending on the year. In 2014, 79 percent of supporters of the Rassemblement National (at the time still Front National) wanted to restore the death penalty, against 92 percent in 2018.