French lean to far-right - polls

France's political future was up in the air yesterday with the far-right surging in polls but other forces fighting to the end three days before a highstakes parliamentary vote.

Depending on the result, President Emmanuel Macron could be left in a tense "cohabitation" with a prime minister from an opposing party, or with a chamber unable to produce a stable majority for at least a year to govern the EU's second economy and top military power.

Surveys suggest voters will hand the National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen over 35% in the first round on Sunday, with a left alliance trailing on up to 29% and Macron's centrists in the dust at around 20%.