France exit polls show left coalition set to win, far right in third place
Al Jazeera
Loose alliance of French left-wing parties on course to become the biggest parliamentary bloc and beat the far right, according to projections.
A loose alliance of French left-wing parties thrown together for snap elections is on course to become the biggest parliamentary bloc and beat the far right, according to projected results.
The New Popular Front (NFP) was formed last month after President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections, bringing together socialists, greens, communists and the hard-left into one camp.
Veteran presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) led the race after the June 30 first round, with opinion polls predicting that she would lead the biggest party in Parliament after Sunday’s run-off.
But projections based on vote samples by four major polling agencies and seen by AFP news agency on Sunday showed no group on course for an absolute majority, and the left-wing NFP ahead of both Macron’s centrist Ensemble and Le Pen’s eurosceptic, anti-immigration RN.
The left-wing group was predicted to take between 172 and 215 seats, the president’s alliance on 150 to 180 and the National Rally – which had hoped for an absolute majority – in a surprise third place on 115 to 155 seats.