The exit polls have delivered an unexpected result.
Celebrations grew into clashes with police across Paris after Marine Le Pen’s quest to bring the far right to power was blocked in the French election.
The left New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday’s election, defeating the National Rally (RN) party, whichwas on course to become the first far-right government in the country since the Second World War.
There were scenes of joy across France as voters took to the streets after the exit polls were announced on Sunday.
Several thousand people gathered at Place de la République, in Paris. There was applause, cars honked their horns and French and Palestinian flags were waved.
A French flag with the slogan ‘France is a fabric of migrations’ was unfurled on the statue.
Supporters of the leftist party, in the majority, loudly welcomed the parliamentary results. But as night came, riots engulfed parts of the capital.
Footage showed fireworks being hurled at police, who responded with tear gas.
The square suddenly became a scene of chaos, with people running around in all directions to escape the gas.
E-bikes, bins and plant pots were thrown into piles and lit up in flames in the city centre.
It is still unclear if the clashes were started by Le Pen’s far-right supporters or anti-fascist voters.
Protests had been planned in advance of the results as opinion polls forecast that the National Rally will win the most votes.
At least 30,000 police had been deployed to prevent violence across the country, with 5,000 just in the capital.
President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble appears to have succeeded in knocking back the advance of the far-right.
The champagne may have been on ice at the National Rally’s headquarters, but the mood swiftly turned to disbelief when the first projected results appeared on TV screens.
For days, Le Pen had confidently predicted that her party would triumph with an outright majority and her protege Jordan Bardella would be prime minister.
Instead, the far-right party is on course to come third, behind a left-wing alliance and president Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc.
Le Pen and Bardella attributed their party’s setback to what he called the ‘disgraceful alliance’ of anti-RN forces, who he said had caricatured the party and disrespected its voters.
Despite France turning down a far-right government, no single political faction is getting even close to the majority needed – and the risk of paralysis looms large today.
According to official results released early this morning, all three main blocs fell far short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers.
The results showed just over 180 seats for the New Popular Front leftist coalition, which placed first, ahead of Macron’s centrist alliance, with more than 160 seats.
National Rally and its allies were restricted to third place, although their more than 140 seats were still way ahead of the party’s previous best showing of 89 seats in 2022.
France now faces the prospect of weeks of political scrambling to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly.
And Macron could be in the unfamiliar position of leading the country alongside a PM opposed to most of his domestic policies.
Regardless of what happens, the president said he will not step down and will stay until his term ends in 2027.
The turnout in the French election reflected the high stakes of the first far-right government since the Second World War.
People turned out in large numbers not normally seen for a legislative election, after decades of deepening voter apathy for such votes and, for a growing number of French people, politics in general.
As of 5 ppm on Sunday, turnout was at 59.7%, according to France’s Interior Ministry, the highest at that time in the voting day since 1981.
During the first round, the nearly 67% turnout was the highest since 1997.
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