A woman leaves a voting booth before voting in the first round of parliamentary elections in Le Touquet, northwestern France, on June 30, 2024.
Ludovic Marin Afp | Getty Images
LONDON – France’s left-wing New Popular Front coalition is set to unexpectedly win the most seats in the second round of the country’s parliamentary elections but fell short of an absolute majority, preliminary data showed.
The New Popular Front could secure between 180 and 215 seats in the latest round of elections, according to IFOP estimates for French TV broadcaster 1. Ipsos projected a lead of between 172 and 192 seats for the faction.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble party and its allies will get between 150 and 180 seats, according to the IFOP, while the far-right Rassemblement National – which won the first round of elections and is largely able to retain strong momentum in the runoff vote – appears to be in third place with 120 -150 seats.
No party secured an absolute majority of 289 seats to govern on its own, indicating markets could open on Monday to a hung parliament in Europe’s third-largest economy, if Sunday’s results are confirmed.
This news item is being updated.