The French Interior Ministry has announced preliminary results for the first round of the parliamentary elections:
the National Rally (RN) party leads with 34.2% of the votes;
the New Popular Front leftist coalition is in second place with 29.1%;
and President Emmanuel Macron's central-right coalition came third with 21.5%.
Based on these initial results, the National Rally is expected to secure between 240 to 270 seats in Parliament, achieving a relative majority, according to national TV calculations. Macron's coalition is projected to lose over 160 seats, potentially winning only between 60 to 90 of the 577 total seats.
Marine Le Pen declared victory over Macron's supporters and called for vigorous support for her party in those constituencies that will hold a second round next week.
"To implement the reforms that the country needs, we need an absolute majority so that Jordan Bardella can be appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron in just eight days," Le Pen said while addressing supporters in Henin-Beaumont.
She noted that Macron's supporters had clearly lost in the first round and that the upcoming battle would be against the socialists.
Le Pen also announced that she had been re-elected to parliament in the first round.
Following the announcement of the first-round results of the French parliamentary elections, the French Socialist Party's spokesperson, Pierre Juvé, described the outcome as a significant defeat for President Emmanuel Macron.
"The reality is that this result represents a very heavy defeat for the President of the Republic," he said speaking to journalists at the Socialist Party headquarters in Paris.
"However, nothing is decided yet. This is only the first round. It is now the responsibility of the President of the Republic and the leadership of the presidential majority to make clear decisions [of who to back in the second round]," he added.
The French Interior Ministry noted a record-high turnout of 59.39% an hour before the polling stations' closure.