French election RECAP: Paris in flames as left-wingers deny Le Pen but Macron 'weakened'

Sir Keir Starmer stands ready to work with a French administration of any political persuasion after France's legislative election.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "France is obviously one of the UK's closest partners, as Nato and G7 members we have many shared interests.

"The Prime Minister has said previously he will work with any government in Europe and across the world."

Marine Le Pen and Viktor Orban look set to join forces in the European Parliament, potentially handing Vladimir Putin a huge boost in his war in Ukraine.

The Hungarian prime minister successfully gained official recognition for his Patriots for Europe bloc in the Brussels assembly.

Sources close to negotiations between the two leaders told Euronews that she is likely to join Orban's bloc.

If her National Rally party becomes a member, then Patriots for Europe would see its total of MEPs almost quadruple to 86.

Russia has no hopes or illusions of an improvement in relations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said after yesteday's results.

Peskov said: "For Russia, the best would be a victory of political forces ready to make efforts to restore our bilateral relations.

"But so far, we do not see such clearly expressed political will in anyone, so we do not harbor any hopes or particular illusions in this regard."

Emmanuel Macron has rejected Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's offer to resign "for the moment" in order to "ensure the stability of country".

Elysee Palace confirmed the news after Mr Attal offered to quit, as was widely reported yesterday.

Spain's Socialisdt Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has sought to link the UK and French election results with that of his own country earlier this year.

He said: "This week, two of the largest countries in Europe have chosen the same path that Spain chose a year ago: rejection of the far right and a firm commitment to a social left that tackles people's problems with serious and courageous policies.

"The United Kingdom and France have said YES to progress and social progress and NO to the backward step in rights and freedoms."

Renaud Labaye, Marine Le Pen's right-hand man and secretary general of National Rally, in the National Assembly, said: "We shouldn't lie, of course we're disappointed.

"But in lots of constituencies, I don't have the details of the results, we're over 40 percent.

"Admittedly, it's not 50, but it's huge. Two and a half years ago, we had seven deputies in the Assembly".

The euro has been plunged into crisis on the back of France's shock election results, which saw the left-wing New Popular Front bloc come out on top.

French voters went to the polls on Sunday to choose a new government, after President Macron called snap elections earlier in June.

After winning 33 percent of the votes in the first round, Marine Le Pen's National Rally was the clear favourite to win a majority in the 577-seat parliament and form the next government.

However, in a stunning reversal of fortunes, the hard-left New Popular Front emerged as the shock winners, securing 182 seats.

With Western eyes focused on France, Russia has launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine - reportedly including hypersonic weapons.

Posting on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Russian terrorists have once again launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine. Different cities – Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk. More than 40 missiles of various types. Apartment buildings, infrastructure, and a children's hospital have been damaged.

"All services are engaged to rescue as many people as possible.

"And the entire world must use all its determination to finally put an end to the Russian strikes. Killing is what Putin brings. Only together can we bring real peace and security."

In a brief statement, Elysee Palace said President Emmanuel Macron was awaiting the full results of all 577 constituencies “before taking the necessary decisions” in relation to France's future government.

It added: “In his role as guarantor of our institutions, the president will ensure that the sovereign choice of the French people is respected."

Jeremy Corbyn, a close friend of fellow left-winger Jean-Luc Melenchon, has weighed in on the French election results.

The former Labour leader, last week elected as an independent MP in Islington North, posted on X: "France’s extraordinary election results provide an urgent, valuable lesson."

In a clear swipe at new UK PM Sir Keir Starmer, he added: "Don’t concede ground to those who sow division and fear. Build a bold Left movement that offers an alternative of inclusion and hope.

"That is how you defeat the far right."

It is now impossible to govern France in the wake of yesterday's chaotic election results, an ally of President Emmanuel Macron has admitted.

The 577-seat National Assembly, which is in effect the country's equivalent of the House of Commons, is now split between the left, the centre and the far-right, with no group even close to a majority.

Sylvain Maillard, an MP for Macron’s Renaissance party, told Politico: “It’s not possible to govern France if you don’t have 240 to 250 lawmakers.

“I was president of the Renaissance group with a coalition of 250 members of parliament and it was already very complicated.”

Jean-Luc Melenchon, who spearheaded the left-wing coalition which emerged from the election with most seats in the French Parliament, has proclaimed victory while calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

He said: "With their ballots the majority made a new choice for the country.

"The will of the people must be strictly respected."

Riot police have been shown stepping in in the famous Place de la Republique as anger flared in Paris following the election results.

The brief clip shows large numbers of baton-wielding officers with flames in the background.

The value of the euro dipped after the French election left the country’s parliament effectively gridlocked, with the single European currency dropped 0.2 percent in Asia trade to $1.0819.

Investors are likely relieved Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) trailed in third - but will also be spooked by the spending plans of the left-wing coalition, especially as France’s national debt stood at 110.6% of gross domestic product last year.

Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe, said: "It looks like the anti-far right parties really got a lot of support.

"But fundamentally from a market perspective, there's no difference in terms of the outcome. There's really going to be a vacuum when it comes to France's legislative ability."

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal says he will resign after a leftist coalition surged to the lead in legislative elections.

In a post accompanying a video shared on X, he said: "Being Prime Minister is the honor of my life.

"The bond we have formed is the most precious thing I have.

"This evening, the political party that I represented in this campaign does not have a majority.

"Faithful to Republican tradition and in accordance with my principles, I will submit my resignation tomorrow morning to the President of the Republic."

Mr Attal is planning to serve until after the Paris Olympics, which starts in less than three weeks.

French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting with leaders from his weakened majority alliance before polls close in Sunday’s second round of legislative elections.

Among those present is Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, according to an aide to the president who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.

Many of Macron’s centrist political allies are furious at his decision to call the surprise elections just three weeks after the far-right National Rally trounced his party in European elections.

They fear the centrist coalition will be wiped out in favor of the far right and left.

The leftist coalition has taken the most seats in parliament, with at least 181.

President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists have more than 160 seats.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally have 143 seats after leading in the first round.

Violence has erupted on the streets of France Marine Le Pen's hopes of forming a first hard-right governement since the end of World War 2 were dashed by a left-wing coalition.

Footage shows protesters wearing masks and hoods running through the streets, hurling flares after 30,000 riot police were deployed across France amid rising tensions.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap election, is yet to comment but his Prime Minister, the youthful Gabriel Attal, has pledged to resign.

The prospect of a far-right government in France has been quashed following an unexpected victory for a last-minute left-wing coalition, formed to counter the rising wave of anti-immigration nationalist parties in the French parliament. Marine Le Pen's National Rally, who were reportedly readying champagne in anticipation of their predicted win, were instead relegated to third place.

The coalition, which was established just weeks prior, secured 182 seats, while Macron's liberals retained 168 through an agreement to unite against the right in many constituencies. However, the pact between President Macron's allies and the left-wing parties failed to secure a majority in the parliamentary election for either group, signalling potential political instability for the French populace.

It's coming up for midnight in Paris and here are the latest seat projections from Elabe:

Counting continues for constituencies across France. We'll be back with the latest in the morning.

In Paris’s Stalingrad square, supporters on the left cheered and applauded as projections showing the alliance ahead flashed up on a giant screen.

Cries of joy also rang out in Republique plaza in eastern Paris, with people spontaneously hugging strangers and several minutes of nonstop applause after the projections landed.

It's now just after 11pm in France and counting continues in the second round of the legislative election. Here's what we know so far:

A hung parliament with no single bloc coming close to getting the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers, would be unknown territory for modern France and usher in political turmoil.

Unlike other countries in Europe that are more accustomed to coalition governments, France does not have a tradition of politicians from rival political camps coming together to form a working majority.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, said her party's victory had only been delayed.

She said: "We are doubling our number of MPs. We are progressing against a coalition of all movements ranging from LR to France Insoumise. The tide continues to rise and our victory is now only delayed."

Eric Zemmour, a former presidential candidate and leader of the nationalist Reconquest party, has said the 'fight' must continue.

Writing on X, he said: "No despair! Starting tomorrow, the fight must continue! This evening, I know that the disappointment of our people is immense. For the right, for France, for all those who care about their security, their freedom, their identity, for all those who want France to emerge from the terrible crisis into which Macron has plunged it, the result is bitter."

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he will remain in post during the upcoming Paris Olympics and for as long as needed, given that polling projections show that no party has won an outright majority.

There will likely be weeks of intense political negotiations to choose a new prime minister and form a government.

Paris is set to host the Olympics from July 26 until August 11.

France’s prime minister Gabriel Attal has said he plans to resign after a leftist coalition surged to the lead in the country’s legislative elections.

Other European leaders have been reacting to the projected results from France. Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, believes there will be 'disappointment in Moscow' following the result.

The polling projections are based on the actual vote count in select constituencies.

Counting is currently taking place and we expect to know the full results by Monday morning.

French leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the projections an “immense relief for a majority of people in our country” and he demanded the resignation of the prime minister.

Mr Melenchon is the most prominent of the leftist leaders who unexpectedly came together ahead of the two-round elections.

Emmanuel Macron’s office said the president would “wait for the new National Assembly to organise itself” before making any decisions.

Mr Macron called the snap legislative election after far right gains in the European elections at the start of June.

The president of France’s far-right National Rally claimed historic gains for the party and blamed Mr Macron for “pushing France into uncertainty and instability”.

In a sombre speech after the second-round legislative election, Jordan Bardella denounced the political manoeuvring that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations.

Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old who looked set to become France's Prime Minister if the National Rally had won an overall majority has spoken tonight.

He said: " We are more than ever the only alternation facing the single party which extends this evening from Philippe Poutou to Édouard Philippe. Depriving millions of French people of the opportunity to see their ideas in power will never be a reliable destiny for France."

Counting is set to take place overnight and the result is likely to be known on Monday morning.

If the projections are correct then many weeks of negotiations are expected to determine who will become Prime Minister and lead the National Assembly.

A Left-wing alliance which unexpectedly came together ahead of the second round of voting is predicted to win the most seats in the Parliamentary elections in France.

Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance is likely to come second, while the far-Right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, is tipped to come third in a huge blow to the French President's main rival.

French leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the projections an “immense relief for a majority of people in our country” and he demanded the resignation of the prime minister.

Mr Melenchon is the most prominent of the leftist leaders who unexpectedly came together ahead of the two-round elections.

The projections, if confirmed by official counts expected later on Sunday or early on Monday, plunge a pillar of the European Union and its second-largest economy into intense uncertainty, with no clarity about who might partner with Mr Macron as prime minister in governing France.

A number of exit polls have been released - but none of them predict the same result - so French voters will have to wait a few hours for the full results to be made clear.

France Télévisions predicts the far-Right National Rally will win between 120 and 160 seats - which would mean the party would come third.

Two other polls suggest Marine Le Pen and RN have come second, while another projection gives RN the biggest number of seats.

The one thing all the polls can agree on is that France is heading towards a "hung parliament", throwing Emmanuel Macron and his party into chaos - although this may be seen as a positive outcome for the struggling French President.

The French far right has fallen short of expectations and trails leftist rivals in France’s legislative elections, pollsters have said.

We're expecting the first projections for the result at around 7pm UK time (8pm in France).

Counting will take place overnight but that should at least give us an indication of the outcome.

Polls have closed in the past few minutes.

Pollster Ipsos is predicting that the final turnout in the second round of parliamentary elections will be around 67 percent.

Polling stations are set to close at 7pm French time (6pm in the UK). We should have the first result projections shortly after that.

Mr Macron is meeting leaders from his weakened majority alliance before polls close on Sunday. Among those present is Mr Attal, according to an aide to the president who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked, highly unusual for France.

The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day.

The French Interior Ministry reports turnout stands at 59.7 per cent as of 5pm local time (4pm in the UK).

This is the highest turnout as of that time on a voting day since 1981.

While most of France's constituencies are within mainland France, there are a total of 27 of them in its overseas territories.

Unlike other countries, France's overseas territories are seen as an integral part of France.

Other areas where voters are casting ballots for the French Parliament include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Canada and French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.

Voters in France are continuing to arrive at polling stations for the second round of votes in the snap Parliamentary election.

Polling stations close at 7pm local time (6pm in the UK). We're expecting the first results projections shortly afterwards

I'm Tom Burnett. I'll be bringing you the latest updates on the French election as the day goes on.

Follow us for the latest updates as they become available.

Some voters across France voiced their fears about their country's future.

Pierre Lubin, a 45-year-old business manager in Paris, said to be concerned about whether this snap election can produce an effective government.

He told AP: "Will it be a technical government or a coalition government made up of [different] political forces?"

Another voter, Frederic Maillard, a doctor from the central town of Tours, expressed his anger at Emmanuel Macron for taking such a high-risk gamble with the snap election.

He said: "I’m mad at the government and in particular at the president that they have taken this irresponsible risk."

Hundreds of candidates from the left-wing alliance New Popular Front and from Emmanuel Macron’s Together group struck deals ahead of the second round of vote.

Many of those who qualified to run in the second round decided to step aside to favour the centre-left candidate most likely to win against a National Rally opponent.

This decision not to split the anti-far-right vote aims to stave off the rise of Marine Le Pen's party and prevent it from winning a majority.

French newspaper Le Mond said 218 of the candidates who qualified to compete in the second round have pulled out this week.

Among them, 130 were part of the New Popular Front coalition and 82 came from the Macron-led centrist alliance.

François Hollande, the 24th President of France who remained in office between 2012 and 2017, was spotted casting his vote.

Mr Hollande, who years before his presidency was secretary of the French Socialist Party, is running for Parliament.

Prior to the first turn, he stated the ascendancy of Macron is "over", before adding he doesn't have any "scores to settle" with the incumbent French President.

The French Interior Ministry released provisional data regarding the voter turnout rate at 12pm local time (11am BST).

The ministry recorded a 26.6 percent rate, slightly higher than the 25.9 percent rate from last Sunday at the same time.

This turnout is also seven points higher than the rate recorded during the last legislative elections in 2022.

The first turn of this election saw a massive 66.7 percent overall turnout rate - the highest since 1997.

Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron were photographed at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France.

The French President, who depending on the result of the election today may be forced to share the power with Marine Le Pen's far-right party National Rally, was seen chatting with the local mayor and shaking hands with a few residents.

He was also photographed casting his ballot inside the polling station.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal spoke out about the violence that swept through France over the past month, following Emmanuel Macron's decision to call snap election.

Taking to X on Wednesday, after yet another episode of violence against a candidate and a member of her campaign team, Mr Attal wrote: "Violence and intimidation have no place in our democracy. They have no place in our Republic. I express my full solidarity with the candidate and her teams.

"Let us reject the climate of violence and hatred that is taking hold. I'm calling for a start now."

France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was spotted casting his vote this morning in Vanves, a suburb of Paris.

Mr Attal is one of the first leading personalities to be seen voting in this round.

As millions of French voters are returning to polling stations to cast their vote for the second round of their country's parliamentary elections, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin voiced fears violence may erupt across France.

Confirming there will be a greater police presence on the streets throughout today, Mr Darmanin told French news broadcaster BFM: "Outbreaks of violence are to be feared."

The official explained that, over the past month of campaigning, more than 50 candidates and their supporters from across the political spectrum had experienced verbal and physical violence - with some of them suffering injuries so serious they had to be taken to hospital. At least 30 suspects from "extremely varied backgrounds" have been arrested so far, Mr Darmanin added.

In anticipation of possible protests and violent riots, many shops in Paris have barricaded themselves to avoid suffering extensive damage.

French voters are choosing today who will sit in the National Assembly - France's primary legislative body.

The legislative election normally sees two rounds, as candidates must reach a high threshold - at least 25 percent of the vote - to be elected after the first turn.

During the second, ongoing, round, the candidate with the most votes wins the seat in which they are standing.

French voters cast their ballot in the first round last Sunday.

The far-right National Rally obtained 33 percent of the vote, a share unlikely to give it the absolute majority in the 577-chair parliament.

Meanwhile, the leftist New Popular Front coalition won 28 percent of the vote, while Emmanuel Macron's centrist Together group came in third with only 20 percent of the vote.

Dozens of stores in Paris are protecting their doors and windows amid fears protests may erupt this evening after the results are announced.

Polling stations in mainland France opened at 8am local time (7am BST).

Voting is already underway in French overseas territories, while some of the polls scattered around the world for French nationals living abroad, including in Western US, are already closed.

Good morning from London. I’m Alice Scarsi, I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments on the French election.