French voters rally behind the left and centre in crucial election
French voters defied expectations by rallying behind parties of the left and centre to prevent the far right from taking power, according to parliamentary election exit polls.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally had been expected to emerge as the largest party in France’s parliament, but projections suggest it finished third in the election.
The New Popular Front, a broad Left-Green coalition formed in the days after the snap election was called, came first in an election regarded as one of the most significant in the history of the fifth Republic.
The bulk of the coalition is made up of France Unbowed, the radical left-wing party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and the centre-left Socialist Party, as well as the Greens, communists and others.
President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition lost a significant number of seats, but the exit polls projected it would finish in second place after a fightback to shore up support over the last week.
The results suggest France may be set to go through a period of instability under a hung parliament or a potentially shaky coalition government of the centre and the left.
Prime minister Gabriel Attal said he would tender his resignation on Monday, but indicated that he might temporarily stay on in a caretaker capacity. Speaking after the initial projections were released, Mr Attal, a key ally of Mr Macron, said the country was now facing an “unprecedented political situation”.
Estimates suggest the New Popular Front could win between 170 and 215 of the available 577 seats in the National Assembly, leaving it well short of a majority. Mr Macron’s centrist camp is predicted to win between 150 and 170 seats, while the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration National Rally are projected to take between 130 and 150.
The second round of voting was pitched as a contest between the far-right and parties from much of the rest of the political spectrum. France’s complicated two-round voting system saw the top two or three candidates from the first round in most constituencies progress to a run-off race.
In an attempt to prevent the National Rally from winning an outright majority, candidates from the centre and left groups pulled out of races where they finished third in the first round of voting a week ago, which gave their remaining rival a better chance of defeating the far-right candidate.
The exit poll projections indicate the strategy was successful, with many of the single-seat constituencies ending up as two-horse races between the National Rally and a challenger from either the centre or left.
The National Rally had been pushing for a majority of 289 seats in parliament after it won the most votes in the first round of voting. Jordan Bardella, who the party would have put forward as prime minister had it won a majority, criticised the co-operation between its opponents, calling it an “alliance of dishonour”.
Mr Macron stunned France by dissolving the parliament four weeks ago in response to the National Rally winning the European Parliament elections. He had hoped that springing a surprise election in a divided political landscape would see voters rally around his centrist group, seeing it as the best chance of keeping the far-right out.
Instead, the left united under one banner emerged as the main alternative in the campaign. As a result, the New Popular Front and the National Rally made gains, with Mr Macron’s coalition losing a significant number of seats.
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