Voters react as they listen to the announcement of the projected results of the second round of France's crunch legislative elections. Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Images
Voters react as they listen to the announcement of the projected results of the second round of France's crunch legislative elections. Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Images
The results mean no bloc has an outright majority in parliament – 289 out of the 577 seats are needed for that – meaning there are tumultuous days ahead for France.
Unlike neighbouring Germany and Italy, modern France has never had a parliament with no dominant party and the country has no tradition of coalition governments.
Coalition talks will be needed – under the constitution no fresh elections can take place for another year – but deep divides over tax, pensions, green investment and immigration among other issues will make them extremely fractious.
On the left there is no obvious candidate for prime minister and Macron has said he will not work with the hard-left France Unbowed party, the largest party in the leftwing alliance which won the most votes.
He could reach out to the Socialists and the Greens but they may not be willing to enter into a government with such an unpopular leader.
Mainstream parties could form different ad hoc alliances to vote through individual pieces of legislation. But Macron has tried this strategy since losing his majority in 2022, with limited success, having to resort on numerous occasions to special constitutional powers such as the unpopular article 49.3 to push legislation through without a parliamentary vote.
If no political agreement is possible, the president could also appoint a technocratic government, made up of economists, academics, diplomats and business or trade union leaders. France has never had such a government before.
This blog is closing but we’ll restart in a few hours to bring you all the latest developments as France wakes up to a new political landscape. In the meantime here are the latest developments:
The leftwing NFP alliance became the biggest force in the French parliament but failed to win an outright majority in a surprise result that saw the far right National Rally (RN) drop to third place. The NFP won 182 seats in the 577-seat parliament, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance won 163 seats and the RN won 143 seats.
Prime minister Gabriel Attal said he would hand in his resignation to president Macron on Monday morning, but added that he could stay in place for the short term, if required, while a new government was formed. “Tonight, a new era begins,” he said, adding that France’s destiny would play out “more than ever in parliament”.
The result means a hung parliament in a country not used to coalition government and which in modern times has always had a dominant party in parliament. Jockeying for the position of prime minister began immediately but there is no clear candidate.
Far right leader Marine Le Pen, who intends to run for president for the far right in 2027, said the far right’s rise to power would continue. She said: “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and our victory has simply been deferred.”
RN leader Jordan Bardella called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a “disgraceful alliance” that would paralyse France.
Macron can choose who he wants as prime minister but many within his alliance have said they will not work with France Unbowed, the hard left party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon which is the largest in the NFP alliance. The president could ask a Socialist or Greens MP but they may not be willing. A centrist candidate could also be an unpopular choice as Macron’s alliance lost so many seats in the election.
Mélenchon said Macron “must invite the New Popular Front to govern”. “The will of the people must be strictly respected,” he said.
Raphael Glucksmann, from the Socialist party and part of the NFP, urged his alliance partners to act like “grown-ups”. “We’re ahead, but we’re in a divided parliament,” he said. “We’re going to have to talk, to discuss, to engage in dialogue.”
The results mean no bloc has an outright majority in parliament – 289 out of the 577 seats are needed for that – meaning there are tumultuous days ahead for France.
Unlike neighbouring Germany and Italy, modern France has never had a parliament with no dominant party and the country has no tradition of coalition governments.
Coalition talks will be needed – under the constitution no fresh elections can take place for another year – but deep divides over tax, pensions, green investment and immigration among other issues will make them extremely fractious.
On the left there is no obvious candidate for prime minister and Macron has said he will not work with the hard-left France Unbowed party, the largest party in the leftwing alliance which won the most votes.
He could reach out to the Socialists and the Greens but they may not be willing to enter into a government with such an unpopular leader.
Mainstream parties could form different ad hoc alliances to vote through individual pieces of legislation. But Macron has tried this strategy since losing his majority in 2022, with limited success, having to resort on numerous occasions to special constitutional powers such as the unpopular article 49.3 to push legislation through without a parliamentary vote.
If no political agreement is possible, the president could also appoint a technocratic government, made up of economists, academics, diplomats and business or trade union leaders. France has never had such a government before.
“Deadlock” is the most likely outcome of the elections, with no “quick solution” likely in the coming days, according to economist and international law professor Armin Steinbach of HEC Paris business school. He says:
France has no political culture of making coalitions and compromises, like Germany or Italy. That is why it feels like a crisis for the French.
He suggests two main scenarios, first a minority government led by the left wing, leading to a “cohabitation”, in which the president and prime minister come from rival camps. He suggests the NFP could propose a moderate leftwing candidate such as the rather unpopular former president François Hollande. Steinbach continues:
Much depends on whether the NFP will stay united and not break up into old conflicts.
A second scenario could see Macron’s centrist alliance and the Republicans form a coalition minority government.
This would be very unpopular and may trigger protests because he [Macron] clearly lost the election.
On the president, Steinbach adds:
With his self-confidence he will probably stay on as president until 2027. In other countries, the head of state would resign after such a defeat. With this defeat, he lacks the legitimacy to appoint a new government.
With results firming up, Elabe has released its latest projections, which show the NFP leftwing alliance on 182 seats, Macron’s centrist Together alliance on 163 and the far-right RN on 143:
Législatives 2024– Estimation nationale projection en sièges actualisée Nouveau Front Populaire : 182 sièges DVG : 11 Ensemble : 163 Les Républicains : 68 Rassemblement National : 143 Divers : 10@BFMTV@RMCInfo@TribuneDimanche ➡️https://t.co/qNzoP71SZE
The euro fell on Sunday after the vote projections were announced, Reuters reports.
“We should get a brief respite in the market ... because we’re not seeing an extremist RN majority take place, but it’s likely to lead to political gridlock at least until the autumn of 2025,” said Aneeka Gupta, macroeconomic research director at WisdomTree.
More reaction to the election result from across Europe, this time from Spain, where prime minister Pedro Sanchez writes:
This week, two of the largest countries in Europe have chosen the same path that Spain chose a year ago: rejection of the extreme right and a decisive commitment to a social left that addresses people’s problems with serious and brave policies.
The UK and France have said YES to progress and social advancement and NO to the regression of rights and freedoms. They have said to an agreement or a government with the extreme right.
Esta semana, dos de los mayores países de Europa han elegido el mismo camino que eligió España hace un año: rechazo a la ultraderecha y apuesta decidida por una izquierda social que aborde los problemas de la gente con políticas serias y valientes.
A senior member of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party says that the election result means that France has “avoided the worst” but added that President Emmanuel Macron has been “politically weakened”.
“The worst is avoided, the RN cannot form a governing majority,” Nils Schmid, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) foreign policy spokesman in the German parliament, told the Funke press group.
Despite his weakened position Macron would retain a “central role” due to the fact that no party can claim an outright majority, he continued.
Forming a government will be “tricky” and parties must show “flexibility” and an “ability to compromise”, said Schmid.
Germany is used to unwieldy coalitions and lengthy negotiations; Scholz’s government is made up of his Social Democratic party plus the Greens and the liberal FDP.
Who would be the leftwing candidate for prime minister?
President Emmanuel Macron can choose whoever he wants as the next prime minister according to the constitution, but in practice he needs to chose someone acceptable to parliament – usually the leader of the largest party.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), the biggest party in the leftwing bloc, which has come out on top in the polls, says prime minister Gabriel Attal “has to go” and that the French left is “ready to govern”.
But it’s unclear who the alliance’s candidate to be prime minister would be, given that Mélenchon is a divisive figure even within his own party.
LFI lawmaker Clementine Autain called on the NFP alliance to gather on Monday to decide on a suitable candidate for prime minister.
The alliance, “in all its diversity”, needed “to decide on a balance point to be able to govern”, she said, AFP reported, adding neither former Socialist president François Hollande nor Mélenchon would do.
The leader of the Socialist Party (PS) Olivier Faure urged “democracy” within the leftwing alliance so they could work together.
“To move forward together we need democracy within our ranks,” he said.
“No outside remarks will come and impose themselves on us,” he said in a thinly veiled criticism of Mélenchon.
Some snap analysis on the results from the Economist’s Paris bureau chief:
One thing that is clear from the final parliamentary result in France. Macron called the vote after Le Pen’s party came top in a European elections as if to call voters’ bluff, and ask if they really wanted the far right to govern. The answer this evening came back: no 🇫🇷
French riot police stand in position near burning bicycles during clashes with demonstrators following partial results in the second round of the early French parliamentary elections, at the Place de la Republique in Paris, July 7. Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters
Left wing supporters celebrate in Lyon. Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
France’s progressives keep out the far right, but what could happen next?
Jon Henley
The New Popular Front (NFP), a left-green alliance dominated by the radical left Unbowed France (LFI) of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has emerged as the shock winner of France’s snap election.
While the winner was a surprise, the result is as expected: a hung parliament of three opposing blocs with hugely different platforms and no tradition of working together – and, under the terms of France’s constitution, no new elections for a year.
So with Macron having promised not to step down until presidential elections in 2027, what’s likely to happen next?
‘We were so scared’: France’s centre and leftwing voters breathe sigh of relief
Ashifa Kassam
A nervous energy rippled through the crowd gathered at Lyon’s Place de la République. As the final polls closed in the most momentous election in recent memory, hundreds of people milled about, waiting to find out what lie in store for France.
Just after 8pm, Florent Martins came running through the plaza, mobile in hand. “We won,” the 23-year-old yelled out, his voice shaking with disbelief as those around him exploded into cheers and hearty applause. “The left won!”
Exit polls on Sunday suggested that a broad leftwing alliance was on track to become the biggest force in the French parliament in a shock win.
“It’s so good,” said Martins. “I’ve been in a panic all day.” Nearby, Veronique Leporte, 69, described the results as stunning. “It’s a huge relief,” she said. “We were so scared.”
It was a sentiment echoed across the country. In Paris cries of joy rang out in République plaza, as the projections sparked spontaneous hugs among strangers and several minutes of applause.
People stand in a square as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon. Photograph: Laurent Cipriani/AP
For those who followed the blog earlier in the evening, when we heard from voters in Paris’ 16th district – casting ballots in the city’s 14th constituency – the winner in that race between Benjamin Haddad, from Macron’s camp, and Louis Piquet, who was backed by the far right, was Haddad, who was re-elected with 73%.
Je remercie sincèrement les électeurs de la 14ème circonscription de Paris qui m’ont réélu avec 73% des voix ce soir. Je serai de retour à la tâche demain pour être la hauteur de votre confiance.
