Far right stunned by left in French election turnaround

Leftists and centrists use 'republican front' to thwart Le Pen

- ANDY GREGORY

France has voted to reject the far right, with a leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, becoming the largest party in a hung parliament, according to shock exit poll results.

In a dramatic turnaround last night, Marine Le Pen was dealt a bitter blow as Ipsos exit polls indicated her far-right National Rally had failed to capitalise on the ascendant trajectory which spooked president Emmanuel Macron into calling the snap parliamentary elections last month.

Pollsters had widely expected National Rally (RN) to emerge as the largest party in France’s national assembly, with most voters focused on the question of whether the far right could succeed in winning the majority needed to deliver the country’s first such government since the Nazi occupation.

Instead, it was the leftist New Popular Front – comprising the Socialists, Greens, Communists and Jean-Luc Melenchon’s farleft France Unbowed (LFI) – which was projected to have won the most seats in the assembly as polls closed at 8pm local time.

Celebrations broke out as relief washed over those on the left and in the centre of French politics.

The exit polls have proved accurate in past elections and if the results are confirmed today, it will spell intense uncertainty ahead for the European Union’s second-largest economy – with the potential for serious political deadlock if no viable ruling group or coalition emerges in parliament.

Following the left’s projected victory, prime minister Gabriel Attal announced last night that he would tender his resignation to Mr Macron, while the Elysee Palace said the president himself would wait for the full picture to emerge in parliament before taking the necessary next decisions, but “will respect the choice of French people”.