French President Emmanuel Macron was in danger of falling short of a parliamentary majority after a first round of voting in parliamentary elections on Sunday that saw his centrist camp tied with a left-wing coalition led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Follow the election night as it happened on our liveblog.
Estimates by Ipsos put Mélenchon's Nupes bloc on 25.6 percent, just ahead of Macron's alliance on 25.2 percent, casting doubt on the president's ability to hold on to his majority in France's National Assembly. Turnout was on course to reach a record low of 47.7 percent.
Voters will return to the polls next Sunday for a second and final round of voting, with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally also hoping to bolster its presence in parliament after coming third with around 19 percent of votes cast.
"We have a week ahead of us to mobilise. One week to convince, one week to obtain a powerful and clear majority," Elizabeth Borne, Macron's newly appointed prime minister, said after Sunday's first round.
"In view of this result, and the extraordinary opportunity it offers us and the destiny of the common homeland, I call on people next Sunday to defeat the disastrous politics of the majority, of Macron," said the left's Mélenchon.
