Celebrating her party’s early success, Marine Le Pen says “democracy has spoken” as she declares President Emmanuel Macron’s camp “practically wiped out”
For his part, Macron is calling for a broad alliance against RN ahead of next week’s second round
He went on to commend voters for the turnout today – the highest in 40 years
The left-wing alliance, who came second in early exit polls, has suggested dropping third-placed candidates ahead of the second round in an effort to block the RN
The snap parliamentary election was called by Macron following his party’s defeat by the RN at the European elections earlier this month.
Counting is well under way in Toulouse and too early to call in France’s fourth city, but in the suburbs it’s clear already that President Macron’s centrist alliance is doing badly – coming a distant third behind both the far right and the left-wing alliance.
However, the government’s candidates still look certain to make it into the second round. So it’s still far from clear how the political situation in this part of France will look a week from now.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that the far right – which had little support in this part of France just a decade ago – is surging by focusing on the cost of living crisis and a perceived rise in violent crime.
Only candidates who manage to win more than 12.5% of the vote will go through to the next round
