The right-wing National Rally (RN) party is set to win the first round of the French snap parliamentary elections held on Sunday, exit polls have indicated. The result would mark a stunning defeat for President Emmanuel Macron and his centrist Together (Ensemble) coalition.
Macron called an early vote following the poor performance of his Renaissance Party in the European Parliament election last month, when the RN, led by Jordan Bardella, won the most seats allotted to France.
According to projections released on Sunday night by pollsters Ipsos and Talan, the RN and its allies are leading with 33.2% of the vote, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front bloc (28.1%). Macron’s coalition is third with 21%. The turnout rate was estimated at 65.5%, the highest France has seen in four decades.
According to projections by Radio France Internationale (RFI), the RN is poised to secure between 230 and 280 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, while the estimate for Macron’s bloc is between 70 and 100 seats.
National Rally supporters celebrated their strong showing, as party leaders urged them to “mobilize” for the second round of voting on July 7.
“The French people have almost wiped out the Macronist bloc,” said Marine Le Pen, the RN’s former long-time leader who currently heads the party’s faction in parliament. “The second round will determine the [final] outcome,” she added, stressing that the RN needs to win an absolute majority in order for Macron to nominate Bardella for prime minister.
Macron reacted to the projected results on Sunday by urging voters to “block the far right” and form a coalition to prevent the RN from controlling the French parliament.
“The time has come for a broad, unequivocally democratic and republican alliance for the second round,” Macron stated. He argued that the high turnout demonstrated “the importance of this election for all our compatriots and the desire to clarify the political situation.”
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that “not a single vote should go to the National Rally,” arguing that the country “must stop” the right from gaining an absolute majority.
New Popular Front leader Jean-Luc Melenchon described Sunday’s projected results as a “heavy and undisputable” defeat for Macron’s alliance, but also urged the French people to unite against the RN.