French election results – LIVE: Far-right National Rally beaten by coalition with hung parliament, says exit poll

A hung parliament is unknown territory for modern France.

Unlike other countries in Europe that are more accustomed to coalition governments, France doesn’t have a tradition of politicians from rival political camps coming together to form a majority. France is also more centralised than many other European countries, with many more decisions made in Paris.

The president was hoping that with France’s fate in their hands, voters might shift from the far right and left and return to mainstream parties closer to the centre – where Emmanuel Macron found much of the support that won him the presidency in 2017 and again in 2022.

But rather than rally behind him, millions of voters seized on his surprise decision as an opportunity to vent their anger.

Here is more from National Rally leader Jordan Bardella’s speech after his distant hopes of becoming prime minister became even more so with Sunday’s exit poll projections:

“I say tonight with gravity that depriving millions of French people of the possibility of seeing their ideas brought to power will never be a viable destiny for France.

“Tonight, by deliberately trying to paralyse our institutions, Emmanuel Macron has not simply pushed the country towards uncertainty and instability, he has deprived the French people of any response to their day-to-day difficulties for many months to come.

“In the midst of a purchasing power crisis, with insecurity and disorder hitting the country hard, France is deprived of a majority, of a government to act, and therefore of a clear course to turn France around.”

Business newspaper Les Echos has run a front page showing a grim-faced Jordan Bardella with the headline “la claque” – which translates to “the slap”.

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has hailed what he described as “the rejection of the extreme right” in both France and Britain.

He wrote on X/Twitter: “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 United Kingdom and France have said YES to progress and social advancement and NO to the regression in rights and freedoms. There is no agreement or government with the extreme right.”

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella attributed their National Rally party’s setback to what Bardella termed the “disgraceful alliance” of leftists, who he said had caricatured the party and disrespected its voters.

But Ipsos pollster Brice Teinturier pointed to the party’s own shortcomings, including revelations before the run-off that several of its candidates had expressed xenophobic views, raising questions over whether the party had really ditched its more toxic past.

“What happened is also that RN candidates themselves showed in this campaign that they either were not ready or had in their ranks candidates that are antisemitic, xenophobic or homophobic,” Mr Teinturier told France 2 television.

France’s constitution states that president Emmanuel Macron will decide who to ask to form a government.

But whoever he picks faces a confidence vote in the National Assembly, which will convene for 15 days from 18 July – meaning Mr Macron needs to name someone acceptable to a majority of parliamentarians.

The president will likely be hoping to peel off Socialists and Greens from the leftist alliance, isolating Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI), to form a centre-left coalition with his own bloc.

However, there was no sign of an imminent break-up of the New Popular Front at this stage.

Another possibility is a government of technocrats that would manage day-to-day affairs but not oversee structural changes. But it is not clear that the left-wing bloc would support this scenario, which would still require the backing of parliament.

Outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal has retained his National Assembly seat in Hauts-de-Seine, according to results published by France’s interior ministry.

Under the banner of the New Popular Front, former Socialist president Francois Hollande also defeated his National Rally opponent by 43 per cent of the vote to 31 per cent, despite the Macron-backed Republican candidate refusing to withdraw in the second round of voting.

Aurelien Rousseau, a former Macron-allied health minister who resigned recently in protest against the controversial far right-backed immigration bill, was also elected under the New Popular Front banner.

Meanwhile, former health minister Olivier Veran – who held the prominent post during the Covid pandemic – was defeated by the leftist candidate in Isere.

Former US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has congratulated the French left “for taking on right-wing extremism and winning”.

Le Monde is reporting the results of 558 of the 577 seats up for grabs in France’s National Assembly election, citing the interior ministry.

According to the newspaper, the New Popular Front alliance has so far secured 177, while Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition has 157, and the National Rally and its allies have 141.