France election 2024 live: Macron’s party projected to be second largest block

A citizen casts their vote in the second district of Lyon, France, on July 7.

This time last week France’s far-right party appeared poised to win the parliamentary election after success in the first round. Today, in a twist sure to give even the most seasoned political spectators whiplash, the left wing is projected to win the most seats but not a working majority – leading to a hung parliament.

Here’s how we got here:

On June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron took a gamble that took most political experts by surprise. Following a crushing defeat in European Parliament elections that saw France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party win the biggest share of vote, Macron dissolved the national parliament and called a snap election.

The timing was criticized by many – with the Olympics just a few weeks away – but Macron said he had listened to the people of France and would give them the democratic right to choose who they wanted in government.

It was a risk, and one that looked like it was not going to pay off after the first round of the elections on June 30 in which the RN clinched 31.5% of the vote, while the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) gained 27.99% and Macron’s Ensemble alliance won just 20.76% of votes.

After years of waiting, it appeared that Marine Le Pen would finally win power, as the doyenne and former leader of the first right-wing party to govern France since World War II.

But others in France were determined to put a stop to that outcome. At the start of the week, hundreds of contenders bowed out in an effort to block the far-right party from the gates of power.

More than 200 candidates from Macron’s centrist party – and the left-wing alliance – stepped down in an attempt to avoid splitting the vote, with one simple goal in mind: to keep the far right well away from reaching a 289-seat majority. 

Ultimately, it appears their efforts paid off. Current projections suggest that the New Popular Front will win 177 to 192 seats, with Macron’s Ensemble party in second place with 152 to 158 seats and the RN winning between 138 to 145 seats.