The far right welcomes the lead and seeks a majority

France’s far right holds the lead after the first round of parliamentary elections asserting their dominance in French politics and bringing them closer to power.

Supporters of Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally (RN) cheered as she said the president’s “Macronist bloc has been virtually wiped out”.

RN of course won 33.2% of the vote, with the left-wing alliance close behind on 28.1% and the Macron alliance close behind on 21%.

“I aim to become prime minister of all French people, if the French people vote for us,” said RN party leader Jordan Bardella, 28 years old.

Never before has the far right won the first round of a French parliamentary election. Veteran commentator Alain Duhamel argues that the simple fact is that it has become a historical reality.

What Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella want is to win an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.

The expected number of seats for next Sunday’s second round vote suggests the number of seats may not be enough.

Without an absolute majority, France will have a hung parliament and the RN Party will be unable to push through its plans on immigration, tax cuts and law and order.

Emmanuel Macron did not need to call this election, but after the RN victory in the European elections he said it was “the most responsible solution”.

It is a gamble that now threatens to tip the political order on its head.

Turnout in the first round of parliamentary elections was the highest since 1997, reflecting the pivotal nature of the vote that followed a lightning-fast campaign lasting just three weeks.

Hundreds of left-wing voters gathered at Place de la République in Paris to express their anger and shock at RN’s success.

President Macron let prime minister Gabriel Attal speak, but he issued a statement saying it was time for a “broad, clearly democratic and republican coalition for the second round”.

While other leaders spoke to cheering supporters, Mr Attal gave a brief, formal speech outside his residence at the Hôtel Matignon.

“Not a single vote was given to the National Rally,” he declared. “The threat was clear – to prevent the National Rally from gaining an absolute majority.”

“One thing is certain,” said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the brash leader of the France Unbowed (LFI) party, “Mr. Attal will no longer be prime minister.”

His party is the most radical of the left-wing parties that make up the New Popular Front, just a few points behind the National Rally.

However, he agreed with the prime minister that there should not be another vote for the RN.

It has been a long journey for the National Rally, from its origins on the far right of French society to securing the support of a third of French voters.

They have a charismatic young leader who could become France’s next prime minister, and a range of policies from banning mobile phones in classrooms to cutting energy taxes to scrapping foreign rights.

“People are not happy when there is insecurity on the streets,” said a voter named Patrick in one of the RN’s potential new strongholds in eastern Paris.

“Victory is in sight,” said Eric Ciotti, a conservative leader who split his Republican Party and formed a coalition with the National Rally that he called “unprecedented and historic.”

Commentator Pierre Haski said France had entered uncharted territory and had only had bad results. “That is why many people are angry with President Macron,” he told the BBC.

The RN has a chance of an absolute majority, although the more likely outcome at this point could be a hung parliament with the RN holding the largest number of seats. The New Popular Front was also able to increase its vote share thanks to the support of voters from other parties.

Next Sunday’s round of voting will feature either a two-party duel or a three-way race. There were only a handful in the last election, but high voter turnout means many third-place candidates qualify for these “triangular” battles.

What will now be decided, largely at the local constituency level, is whether the third-placed candidate drops out of the race to prevent the RN from winning the seat.

Prime Minister Attal said that in “a few hundred” constituencies, his party’s candidates would be best placed to block the RN.

He said it was a moral duty to stop the far right “running the country with their disastrous project”.

But many third-placed centrist candidates are expected to step aside, if their Socialist, Green or Communist opponents have a better chance of defeating the RN.

Overall, they may refuse to give way to Mr Mélenchon’s party, although a third-placed Macron candidate said she was stepping down to give LFI rival Francois Ruffin a better chance of winning.

“I draw a line between political opponents and enemies of the republic,” Albane Branlant said.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon said that if his party’s candidate came in third place and the RN was in the lead, they would also withdraw.

In the words of Mr. Macron’s Socialist predecessor and former leader, François Hollande: “We have the urgent task of ensuring that the far right cannot win a majority in Parliament.” .