A left-wing coalition that came together ahead of France’s snap elections has won the most parliamentary seats in the vote, beating the far-right National Rally into third place, according to exit polls. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance came in second place.
France was on course for a hung parliament in Sunday's election after the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance came out on top.
If confirmed, the NFP would become the largest grouping in the National Assembly with between 172 and 215 seats in the 577-seat chamber, according to projections based on early results.
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN), beaten into third place, is predicted to win between 115 to 155 seats – a major upset that looks set to bar the party from running the next government, as it had hoped.
President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance Ensemble (Together), was projected to be narrowly second and win 150-180 seats.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve "as long as duty demands", notably in light of the imminent Paris Olympics.
Cries of joy and tears of relief broke out at the leftist alliance's gathering in Paris when the estimates were announced.
Jean-Luc Mélénchon, leader of the NFP's main component – the hard-left France Unbowed – demanded that the left be allowed to form a government.
"Its constituent parts, the united left, have shown themselves equal to the historic occasion and in their own way have foiled the trap set for the country. In its own way, once again, it has saved the Republic."
No absolute majority
Turnout in the snap polls was around 67 percent – the highest since 1981.
With no one party winning an absolute majority, parliament looks set to be divided in three big groups with hugely different platforms and no tradition of working together.
That could potentially herald a period of instability, unless the left manages to strike a deal with other parties to work together.
They face the difficult task of agreeing on who will be the next prime minister.
Polls had shown the RN coming out on top after winning the first round on 30 June with 33 percent of the vote.
But they were edged out of after the Ensemble alliance and the left came together in many constituencies to block the far right gaining power.
Le Pen's rivals pulled more than two hundred candidates out of three-way races in the second round in a bid to create a unified anti-RN vote.
Speaking shortly after the exit polls were announced, RN leader Jordan Bardella slammed an "alliance of dishonour".
Despite performing worse than expected, RN considerably increased its share of the vote. Le Pen, who is expected to run for president in 2027, said that victory for the party was "only delayed".
(With newswires)
