France's left-wing parties were expected to win the most seats in the Assemblée Nationale, after the second round of snap parliamentary elections, first estimates showed on Sunday, July 7. The far right made significant gains but finished third, behind Macron's coalition, well below expectations.
The Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) alliance, formed less than three weeks ago by the main left-wing parties, was expected to clinch between 170 and 190 seats, according to the early estimates by Ipsos for France Télévisions, Radio France, France24/RFI and LCP. The far-right Rassemblement National and its allies were projected to win between 135 and 155 seats, and Macron's coalition, Ensemble, between 150 and 170.
These results mean France will have a hung parliament, with three major blocs but no clear majority. That leaves President Emmanuel Macron in a position to negotiate with parties that have long been in opposition to him to try to form a coalition government.
Macron called the snap elections three years before the scheduled end of the legislature after his coalition was soundly beaten by the RN in the European elections on June 9. In the first round, on June 30, the far-right party came out on top with 33.35% of the vote nationwide. That lead failed to convert into an absolute majority of seats in the second round following the "republican front" put together by other parties to prevent the far right from ascending to power. In the week between the two votes, more than 200 candidates, mostly from the left and center, dropped out in favor of a better-placed candidate to beat the RN.
In the final week of campaigning, the RN faced scrutiny for the comments made by many of its candidates: Dozens have made racist, homophobic or xenophobic statements. Many of them will now sit in the Assemblée Nationale as part of a historic far-right wave. The previous record for the far right, set two years ago, was 89 seats.
The NFP alliance was formed by the Socialists, Greens, Communists and Jean-Luc Mélenchon's radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI), along with some smaller parties and independents. A similar alliance, though less broad, had been formed in 2022 and had made the left the largest opposition force in the Assemblée, but broke apart after regular tensions, particularly between LFI and the other parties.