French election June 30: clear lead for the far right 

The first-round of France’s parliamentary elections took place yesterday (June 30) to elect 577 members of the lower chamber of government, the Assemblée nationale, after President Macron called snap elections.

The hotly-contested vote followed the sweeping victory of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) in the European Parliamentary elections on June 9 - and yesterday's results continued the trend.

Here are key points of the vote. 

Highest voter turnout since 1997

66.71% of registered voters made their way to the polls in the first round, making it the highest voter turnout in over 25 years, according to official figures released by the Interior ministry.

In the first round of the previous legislative elections in 2022, only 47.51% of France voted. 

In particular, there were 2.1 million votes by proxy, more than two times as many as in 2022. 

The highest turnouts were reported to be in Finistère (68.26%), Tarn (67.31%) and Dordogne (66.82%). The lowest was in Seine-Saint-Denis (47.04%). A map showing participation by department compiled by the public service media FranceInfo can be seen here.

RN in the lead with 33.15% of votes 

RN candidates officially obtained 33.15% of votes across France. The RN is projected to win between 230 and 280 seats, according to estimated results from Ipsos reported by Franceinfo, and between 255 and 295 according to an Elabe poll reported by RMC. 

37 candidates, including Marine Le Pen, received more than 50% of the votes in their constituency in the first round, which means that they are directly elected and will not need a second round. 

To obtain an absolute majority in the Assemblée, the RN need at least 289 seats, which is a distinct possibility. In that case, Jordan Bardella will be appointed as prime minister and a cohabitation will be put in place.

Left's alliance in second place 

The candidates supported by the Nouveau Front Populaire, the alliance of parties on the left, received 28.1% of votes, including 32 candidates who won a majority in the first round.  

It is estimated that the Nouveau Front Populaire will occupy between 125 and 165 seats according to the Ipsos estimated results, which would make it the second most represented party in the Assemblée, although this could all change in the second round. 

Jean-Luc Mélenchon has said that the La France insoumise candidates who are in third place but made it to the second round will withdraw, in order to not divide votes and to block the RN. 

President Macron’s party, Ensemble, fared poorly

Ensemble received 21% of votes. They are estimated to have between 70 and 100 deputies, according to Ipsos. This is a far cry from 2017, when Macron's party (at the time named La République en marche) received over 300 seats and 2022, when it won 245 seats. 

Mr Macron hailed the high turn-out rates and called for a "republican and democratic" alliance against the RN. Prime minister Gabriel Attal said that not one vote must go to the RN. 

What happens now?

There will be a second round of voting on July 7 for the candidates who did not win their seat outright. 

It is likely that candidates in third position from both Ensemble and the Nouveau Front Populaire will withdraw their candidacy in order to unite votes against the RN. 

Only candidates who get more than 12.5% of the vote can participate in the second round on Sunday.