Leftists beat far right in France’s snap parliamentary election

Our live coverage of France’s election has now ended for today. Read our key takeaways write here and browse the posts below to catch up on Monday’s earlier news.

On Sunday night, joy: French voters had, once again, kept the far right out of power.

On Monday morning, uncertainty: A hung parliament, shaky alliances and the threat of turbulent years ahead.

President Emmanuel Macron called France’s snap parliamentary election to “clarify” the political situation. But after the shock second-round results, the waters are more muddied than they have been in decades.

While a surge in support for the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition foiled Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, French politics is now more disordered than it was before the vote.

So, what did we learn last night, who might be France’s next prime minister, and has Macron’s gamble “paid off?”

As we wind down our live coverage, read the full story here.

Here’s a reminder of how the parties fared in France’s surprising parliamentary election runoff.

The left-wing alliance won the most seats in the French parliament, thwarting the far-right’s attempt to take power, but the parties fell well short of the threshold for a majority and uncertainty lies ahead.

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to stay in his post for now, according to a source from the Elysee presidential palace. 

Attal tendered his resignation this morning but Macron refused to accept. 

The president has asked Attal to stay on “for the moment to ensure the stability of the country,” according to the Elysee source.

Former French president and socialist newly-elected Member of Parliament Francois Hollande, center, delivers a speech following the first results of the second round of France's legislative election in Tulle, France, on July 7.

Former French President Francois Hollande, who governed the country for one term from 2012 to 2017, has been elected as the member of the French parliament for Corrèze, which he represented in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Hollande did not run for a second term as president as he saw his re-election chances as very slim. He was succeeded by one of his then-economy ministers, Emmanuel Macron. 

Hollande had largely retired from political life after his presidential term, but staged a comeback after saying the far-right posed a real danger to the country.   

As president, Hollande legalized same-sex marriage and led France’s response to a string of terror attacks.

President of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) party and Mayor of Pau Francois Bayrou leaves the polling booth before voting in the second round of France's legislative election at a polling station in Pau, south-western France on July 7.

A French centrist politician has said he believes a parliamentary majority without the far-left France Unbowed party is possible, despite that party and its allies winning the most votes of any bloc in Sunday’s legislative elections.

Francois Bayrou, leader of the centrist Democratic Movement, told French radio station France Inter that a majority could be formed without both the far left and far right. 

He criticized the far-left alliance around France Unbowed, saying the parties that make up the bloc have “attitudes and political choices that are incompatible with each other.”

The New Popular Front includes traditional left-wing parties like the Socialist and Communist parties, as well as the far-left group.

The leaderless bloc has yet to put forward an official candidate for prime minister, with a key internal division coming over the role of France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a controversial figure on the French political scene. 

Bayrou’s party won some three dozen seats on Sunday night, part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s bloc, which took a surprisingly big haul of 163 seats. 

Bayrou said the second round had delivered a “collapse” for the far-right National Rally (RN), which in a surprise turnaround came in third. 

But the far-right saw its best ever parliamentary results, doubling its share of seats. 

Marine Le Pen, RN’s figurehead, said Sunday night that the results would be a foundation for the 2027 presidential elections.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has arrived at the Elysee Presidential Palace to offer his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron, television pictures show. 

It is not yet clear if Macron will accept Attal’s offer of resignation, which was announced as results from the election trickled through.

The offer also comes just a few weeks before the Olympic Games in Paris, a major demonstration of France’s position on the world stage, get underway.

Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, speaks in Stuttgart, Germany, on July 8.

German’s Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has said he is “thoroughly relieved” after the far right failed to win an outright majority in the French National Assembly.  

Habeck, a member of the Green Party who is also economy minister, said “I am thoroughly relieved that the right did not make a breakthrough and although the formation of a government will now be very complicated, I think it is very good how the center and center-left parties and the left spectrum have worked together to prevent France from drifting into nationalism and Europe from getting into even more difficult waters.” 

“It was an encouraging election result, but the result will nevertheless represent an enormous challenge, especially for France itself, but also for Europe, which is currently in a phase of reorganization after the European elections, and also for Franco-German relations,” he told reporters in Stuttgart, Germany early Monday.  

“In these difficult times, I hope that France will quickly regain its position we need in Europe, because without France it will not work.”

A left-wing alliance has won the most seats in the French parliament after tactical voting in Sunday’s second round election thwarted Marine Le Pen’s far-right party — but France will be left in political limbo after no party came close to winning an absolute majority.

Unable to call a new election for at least another year, and with three years left of his term, President Emmanuel Macron looks set to preside over an unruly parliament, as problems mount at home and abroad.

Here’s what we know:

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez speaks on July 3, in Madrid.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hailed voters in France and Britain for rejecting the far right, after the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats in the French parliamentary election. 

The NFP alliance came first in the snap election on Sunday night, winning 182 seats, with the far-right National Rally trailing in third place in a surprise reversal of first-round results.

Remember: France’s election came just a few days after the United Kingdom’s center-left Labour Party swept to victory with a landslide majority, ending 14 years of Conservative rule, in an election that saw the upstart right-wing Reform UK party win five parliamentary seats.

A month ago, the New Popular Front (NFP) did not exist. Now, it has won the most seats in the French parliament and could provide France with its next prime minister.

Here’s what you need to know:

Read more:

Related Coverage: What is the NFP and who will be France’s next prime minister? | CNN

“I threw my live grenade at their feet” is how French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly saw his call for snap elections after a stinging far-right victory in June’s European elections.

It was an explosive gamble and the final results took the country by surprise: France’s left-wing alliance coming in first with 182 seats and the far-right trailing in third place — a shocking reversal of last Sunday’s first-round results.

On Place de la Republique in Paris, news of the projected results was met with rapturous applause and fireworks as people embraced one another, breathing a collective sigh of relief: in their eyes, France had been pulled back from the brink.

Turnout on Sunday was the highest in a parliamentary election for more than 20 years as French citizens took to the ballot box to make their feelings known: they did not want the far right to govern.

Divided parliament: However, with the left falling short of the 289 seats needed for a majority and with a weakened president, the national assembly is expected to be more fractured than ever.

What’s certain is that France is set to enter a prolonged period of instability as three opposing blocs with competing ideas and agendas try to form coalition or find themselves stuck in a state of paralysis.

With such a divided parliament there is no hope for major structural reforms at a domestic level, the best the leftists can hope for are ad hoc alliances to vote through individual pieces of legislation.

Read the full analysis:

Related Coverage: Analysis: Macron’s gamble has kept the far right out of power, but plunged France into chaos | CNN

Cheers erupted on the streets of Paris late Sunday as projected results suggested the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) would beat the far-right National Rally (RN) party in France’s snap parliamentary election.

A large crowd later gathered at the capital’s Place de la République to celebrate the left-wing alliance winning the most seats in parliament as they chanted: “Young people screw the National Front,” a popular left-wing slogan.

A voter leaves a booth at a polling station in Lyon, France, on Sunday, July 7.

The NFP is a cluster of several parties ranging from the far-left France Unbowed party to the more moderate Socialists and the Ecologists.

The alliance won 182 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest group but short of the 289 required for an absolute majority, according to the French Interior Ministry.

Poll workers begin counting ballots in Schiltgheim, France.

Speaking to a crowd of his ecstatic supporters near Stalingrad square, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the firebrand leader of France Unbowed, said the results came as a “huge relief for the overwhelming majority of people in our country.”

“Our people have clearly rejected the worst-case scenario,” Mélenchon said. “A magnificent surge of civic mobilization has taken hold!”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the France Unbowed party and member of the New Popular Front, waves to supporters in Paris after partial results were released.

Late Sunday night, police cleared the Place de la République by firing tear gas into the crowds, mostly of young people.

But the demonstrators remained upbeat, with photos showing people across the city cheering and celebrating.

People react to the projection of results in Paris.

The mood was more somber for supporters of the far-right RN party.

At the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris, the buoyant atmosphere at a RN campaign event took a nosedive an hour before the polls closed as it became apparent the far right bloc would come third in the vote.

People gather at Place de la République in Paris to celebrate the early results.

After the projection was announced, Jordan Bardella, the RN’s 28-year-old leader, said France had been thrown into “uncertainty and instability.”

Despite leading after the first round of votes, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies won 143 seats.

With no party close to clinching a majority, the parliament is likely to be paralyzed, split between three blocs.

Far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen speaks to reporters in Paris after partial results showed her party would not clinch the majority.

The RN’s strong showing in the first round stirred fears that France could be on the cusp of electing its first far-right government since the collaborationist Vichy regime of World War II.

But Sunday’s results come as a huge upset and show French voters’ overwhelming desire to keep the far right from gaining power – even at the cost of a hung parliament.

Supporters of the French far-right National Rally party react after partial results were released in Paris.

President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance, which had slumped to a dismal third in the first round of voting last Sunday, mounted a strong recovery to win 163 seats.

Gabriel Attal, Macron’s protege, announced he would resign as prime minister Monday morning. He seemed to take a swipe at Macron’s decision to call the snap vote, saying he “didn’t choose” for France’s parliament to be dissolved.

Crowds gather during an election night rally at Place de la République in Paris. 

After parliamentary elections, the French president appoints a prime minister from the party that won the most seats. Ordinarily, this means a candidate from the president’s own party. However, Sunday’s results mean Macron faces the prospect of having to appoint a figure from the left-wing coalition, in a rare arrangement known as a “cohabitation.”

Speaking to supporters near Stalingrad square, Mélenchon said Macron “has the duty to call the New Popular Front to govern.”

France’s Interior Ministry has confirmed the final results of Sunday’s election which saw a 66.63% voter turnout.

The largest number of seats were won by the pan-left alliance New Popular Front – with 182 seats.

The centrist party, Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble party won 163 seats. In third place, the far-right National Rally and allies won 143 seats.

This means no party has won the required 289 seats for an absolute majority, and seems set to plunge France into more political uncertainty. With no party close to clinching a majority, the parliament is likely to be paralyzed, split between three blocs.

Far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters after the second round of the legislative election on July 7 at the party election night headquarters in Paris, France.

While France’s far-right National Rally (RN) didn’t clinch the majority it was hoping for in Sunday’s election, the party has come a long way since previous elections.

In the 2017 election, the RN won only eight seats. In 2022: they won 89. Now, the party is projected to win between 132 and 152 seats.

If successful, Bardella’s party is also projected to have the most seats of any individual party — the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) is a front made up of various parties forming a united front.

Unlike its political rival the NPF, the National Rally has not come into existence recently. It has a long and complicated history in France.

Founded by Marine Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, a convicted holocaust denier with extremist views on migration, for a long time many people in France viewed the party as an unviable political option.

In recent years Marine Le Pen has sought to change the way the party is viewed after ousting her father from his role leading the party and bringing in 28-year-old Jordan Bardella as leader.

Bardella was picked as the fresh face of an old party that has sought to make itself new. Le Pen has a goal: to soften the party’s image and achieve exactly what it did at recent polls — convince a broader group of voters that her party will represent them.

French riot police run during clashes with demonstrators at the Place de la République in Paris on July 7.

Police have moved to clear the Place de la République, a square in central Paris, by firing tear gas into the crowds of mostly young people.

Still, the crowd remained upbeat and were chanting: “Young people screw the National Front.”

This has become a popular left-wing slogan over the past week, using the old name of the far-right National Rally (RN) party.

A man passes campaign posters for the New Popular Front (NFP) in Paris on July 6.

A month ago, the New Popular Front (NFP) did not exist. Now, it looks set to win the most seats in the French parliament and could provide France with its next prime minister.

The hastily assembled left-wing coalition chose its name in an attempt to resurrect the original Popular Front that blocked the far right from gaining power in 1936. If Sunday’s second-round projection is confirmed, the NFP will have done so again.

Who are the NFP?: The NFP is made up of several parties: the far-left France Unbowed party; the more moderate Socialist Party; the green Ecologist party; the French Communist Party; the center-left Place Publique, and other small parties.

Who’s in charge?: It’s hard to say. Its most prominent – and divisive – figure is Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a 72-year-old populist firebrand and longtime leader of the France Unbowed party, projected to be the largest party within the coalition.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the France Unbowed party, attends an election-night gathering in Paris on July 7.

But figures in Macron’s Ensemble party have repeatedly said they would refuse to work with France Unbowed, saying it is just as extreme – and therefore as unfit to govern – as the RN.

What are its policies?: On foreign policy, the NFP has pledged to “immediately recognize” a Palestinian state, and will push for Israel and Hamas to cease fire in Gaza.

It also promised to raise the minimum monthly wage to 1,600 euros (more than $1,700), to cap the price of essential foods and electricity, and to scrap Macron’s unpopular pension reforms.

Read more here.

An activist for France’s National Rally (RN), the right-wing party that was expected to lead Sunday’s elections but in a surprising twist fell behind two other parties, has described the results as both “satisfying and a bit disappointing.”

“Satisfied because we’re doubling our MPs in the assembly. Which is quite historic. We had hoped for better,” Aymeric Mahiet said.

Another activist, who only provided their name as Alban to CNN, said they felt “a little disappointed by the lack of respect for the democratic process.” 

Alban criticized the “RN-bashing” he felt from the French media, especially more typically neutral media like Le Monde and Franceinfo which he said “very clearly take openly anti-RN positions” 

Mahiet also repeated a claim RN leader Jordan Bardella had made earlier, suggesting the Macron and the left-wing parties had colluded to win the election.

“This election was stolen by Emmanuel Macron in his tower up high, in total disconnection with the country,” he said.

Crowds gather at Place de la République in Paris.

Thousands of people, mostly young Parisians, crowded into Place de la République, waving flags and drinking beers.

The atmosphere was relaxed, even celebratory, with only the odd political chant going up into the night sky.

Riot police and a water cannon sat sentinel at one entrance to the square, although the mission has clearly changed from fears of putting down a riot to managing a jubilant crowd.

A citizen casts their vote in the second district of Lyon, France, on July 7.

This time last week France’s far-right party appeared poised to win the parliamentary election after success in the first round. Today, in a twist sure to give even the most seasoned political spectators whiplash, the left wing is projected to win the most seats but not a working majority – leading to a hung parliament.

Here’s how we got here:

On June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron took a gamble that took most political experts by surprise. Following a crushing defeat in European Parliament elections that saw France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party win the biggest share of vote, Macron dissolved the national parliament and called a snap election.

The timing was criticized by many – with the Olympics just a few weeks away – but Macron said he had listened to the people of France and would give them the democratic right to choose who they wanted in government.

It was a risk, and one that looked like it was not going to pay off after the first round of the elections on June 30 in which the RN clinched 31.5% of the vote, while the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) gained 27.99% and Macron’s Ensemble alliance won just 20.76% of votes.

After years of waiting, it appeared that Marine Le Pen would finally win power, as the doyenne and former leader of the first right-wing party to govern France since World War II.

But others in France were determined to put a stop to that outcome. At the start of the week, hundreds of contenders bowed out in an effort to block the far-right party from the gates of power.

More than 200 candidates from Macron’s centrist party – and the left-wing alliance – stepped down in an attempt to avoid splitting the vote, with one simple goal in mind: to keep the far right well away from reaching a 289-seat majority. 

Ultimately, it appears their efforts paid off. Current projections suggest that the New Popular Front will win 177 to 192 seats, with Macron’s Ensemble party in second place with 152 to 158 seats and the RN winning between 138 to 145 seats.