French left wins simple majority in elections, according to several polls

The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) has come out on top in Sunday’s French legislative elections, with the largest parliamentary group in the National Assembly, according to several polling institutes.

The NFP won between 160 and 215 seats, while the Macronist bloc won between 150 and 180, and Marine Le Pen’s far-right was relegated to third place with 115-152 seats, according to the four main polling institutes.

These figures come as a surprise after the far-right won the first round by a landslide, with 33.15% of the vote, and remained ahead in the polls and in the latest seat projections that were released until Friday, the last day of the campaign.

But at the close of the polls, the NFP appears to have won, according to Ifop’s projections for TF1 and LCI channels, with 180-215 deputies, plus another 10 seats for left-wing independents, clearly ahead of the Macronist bloc (150-180).

The far right is relegated to third place, with a result of 120 to 150 seats, according to the polls.

Ipsos projections for public broadcasting are similar, with 172-192 seats for the NFP, compared with 150-170 for the Macronists and 132-152 for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).

Elabe’s polls for BFMTV give the left 175-205 deputies, 150-170 for the Macronist bloc and 115-150 for the RN.

Finally, the Opinionway poll gives the NFP 160 to 210 seats, with the Macronists also in second place (160-180), and the far right in third with 130-160.