THE GUARDIAN: Marine Le Pen’s National Rally falls into third place, despite strong showing in first round of voting
A leftwing alliance was on track to become the biggest force in the French parliament on Sunday after tactical voting held back the far right, but the shape of the future government remained uncertain after no group won an absolute majority.
The New Popular Front alliance of parties – which includes the former ruling Socialist party, the leftwing La France Insoumise, the Greens and Communists – was predicted to take 172–192 seats, according to projections by Ipsos pollsters for the French public broadcaster.
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping, Ensemble, was in second place, projected to take between 150–170 seats, a loss of up to 100 seats but a stronger showing than expected.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) was predicted to come third with 132–152 seats, along with its allies on the right. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Sunday, July 7, 2024
