By calling a snap parliamentary election in the wake of his party’s defeat in the June European Parliament vote, French President Emmanuel Macron hoped to “clarify” the political situation for his own benefit. Clearly, he failed.

The election produced no parliamentary majority, only a great deal more confusion. With many losers and very few winners, it is the most astonishing election in the country’s modern history.

Among the many losers is the National Rally, the far-right party that clinched a decisive and shocking victory in the European elections just weeks earlier. Though the party has increased its seat count and emerged as the largest in the National Assembly, it fell far short of expectations.