A loose alliance of left-wing parties has won the most seats in France’s high-stakes legislative elections, beating both the far right and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition.
No one group won an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly in Sunday’s run-off vote, plunging France into political limbo with no clear path to forming a new government two days before a major NATO summit and three weeks before the Paris Olympic Games.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve “as long as duty demands”, notably in light of the imminent Paris Games.
The New Popular Front (NFP) – formed last month after Macron called the snap elections – brought together the previously deeply divided Socialists, Greens, Communists and the hard-left France Unbowed in one camp.
The group took 177 seats, while Macron’s Ensemble won 148 seats and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) took 142 seats.
The result marks a new high-water mark for the far right but falls well short of the victory National Rally had been hoping for after Macron called the snap election in what he said was a bid to halt France’s slide towards the political extremes.
Left-wing supporters gathered in Republic Square in central Paris to celebrate the results, with people lighting flares, playing drums, and chanting “We’ve won! We’ve won!”
