France elections latest: Macron asks PM Attal to stay on as country faces ‘3 major risks’ over deadlock
France faces months of instability after none of the three major parties were able to achieve a majority at the second round of elections
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French president Emmanuel Macron has refused the resignation of the country’s prime minister Gabriel Attal, asking him to stay on as the country faces weeks of political instability after a shock snap election result.
A left-wing alliance called New Popular Front won the most seats, with Mr Macron’s centrist grouping coming second. That pushed Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) into third, but with no party holding a majority. Le Pen’s party won the first round of the election late last month, but tactical voting – with more than 200 candidates, mostly from the left-wing alliance and the centrists, dropping out so as not to split the anti-RN vote.
Mr Attal had offered his resignation in the wake of the result, but Mr Macron has said he needs to stay on for now “to ensure the stability of the country” as the deal-making begins.
It comes as France's economic minister, Bruno Le Maire, faced three major risks over the political deadlock. He said the immediate risk was a "financial crisis and economic decline". The other two are an "ideological fracture of the nation” and a parliament full of “scattered” ideas from sides all with different agendas.
What does Le Pen’s loss mean for France’s allies?
Many of France’s allies breathed a sigh of relief that the worst was averted as Marine Le Pen’s far-right failed to win a snap election yesterday but they noted that a messy coalition from a hung parliament could also pose headaches for Europe.
Ms Le Pen’s National Rally had been favourite to top the polls, raising the risk of France’s first far-right government since the second world war and threatening to upend economic and foreign policy in the euro zone’s second-largest economy.
In particular, Ukraine’s allies feared that Ms Le Pen-led government could be soft on Moscow and pare back military aid that Kyiv has relied on since the Russian invasion in 2022, though her party has latterly said Russia was a threat.
The National Rally’s defeat signals at least a temporary pushback against a far-right surge in Europe, but could herald a period of instability with a new government in an uneasy “cohabitation” with president Emmanuel Macron.
Clashes in France as poll predicts surprise win for left coalition
Riots erupted in France after polls predicted a surprise win for the left.
Footage showed police in riots gear as they attempted to contain violent demonstrations in Paris and used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Unlike other countries in Europe that are more accustomed to coalition governments, France doesn’t have a tradition of lawmakers from rival political camps coming together to form a majority. France is also more centralised than many other European countries, with many more decisions made in Paris.
The president was hoping that with France’s fate in their hands, voters might shift from the far-right and left and return to mainstream parties closer to the center — where Emmanuel Macron found much of the support that won him the presidency in 2017 and again in 2022.
But rather than rally behind him, millions of voters seized on his surprise decision as an opportunity to vent their anger about inflation, crime, immigration and other grievances — including Mr Macron’s style of government.
How have France’s allies responded to snap poll predictions?
Emmanuel Macron had called the snap poll in an attempt to wrest the initiative back from Marine Le Pen but his own party was left trailing behind an alliance of leftist parties that performed far better than expected to take first place.
Several early reactions from overseas rejoiced that the immediate threat of a far-right government had been averted.
“In Paris enthusiasm, in Moscow disappointment, in Kyiv relief. Enough to be happy in Warsaw,” Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on X.
“The worst has been avoided,” said Nils Schmid, the foreign policy spokesperson for chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats in Germany, where the far-right has also surged in popularity during a cost of living crisis.
“The president is politically weakened, even if he retains a central role in view of the unclear majority situation. Forming a government will be complicated,” Mr Schmid told the Funke media group.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s party congratulated the leftist alliance, called the New Popular Front, for a victory that “stops the far-right from reaching the government”.
Nikos Androulakis, the head of Greece’s Socialist PASOK party, said the French people had “raised a wall against the far right, racism and intolerance and guarded the timeless principles of the French Republic: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”.
Colombia’s leftist firebrand president, Gustavo Petro, also congratulated the French for keeping out Ms Le Pen.
“There are battles that last just a few days but (which) define humanity’s fate. France has gone through one of these,” he said.
An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called it a “huge relief” but added: “what it means for Europe on a day to day basis remains to be seen though.”
France shifts to the left, but risks policy paralysis
France faced a hung parliament and the prospect of taxing negotiations starting today to form a government, after a surprise left-wing surge blocked Marine Le Pen’s quest to bring the far-right to power.
The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday’s election, but with no single group securing a working majority the possibilities include the NFP forming a minority government or the building of a broad, unwieldy coalition.
The result leaves the euro zone’s second-largest economy in limbo, heralding a period of political instability just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympic Games.
Emmanuel Macron ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament, in what is set to weaken France’s role in the European Union and further afield, and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda.
The left won 182 seats, Mr Macron’s centrist alliance 168 and Ms Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and allies 143, interior ministry data cited by Le Monde newspaper showed.
“There’s really going to be a vacuum when it comes to France‘s legislative ability,” said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe in London.
Baptiste Fourasti, a 23-year-old designer in Place de la Republique, said, “we weren’t expecting it, neither were the polls. We are happy that the French people succeeded once more in blocking the far-right.”
However he was worried that far-right may grow in strength and win next time if the next government is not beyond reproach.
“It will be difficult with a hung parliament, but better than if it was the far-right (ahead),” he said.
‘Our victory has been merely delayed’
Marine Le Pen, who will likely be the party’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said that Sunday’s ballot, in which the RN made major gains compared with previous elections, had sown the seeds for the future.
“Our victory has been merely delayed,” she said.
For Ms Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), the result was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected it would win comfortably.
The left and centrist alliances cooperated after the first round of voting last week by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote.
In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella, Ms Le Pen’s protege, called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a “disgraceful alliance” that he said would paralyse France.
Macron to wait for full results before announcing major decision
In a brief statement, the Elysee, the French presidential palace said Emmanuel Macron is awaiting the full results of all 577 constituencies “before taking the necessary decisions.”
“In his role as guarantor of our institutions, the president will ensure that the sovereign choice of the French people is respected,” it said.
Who are the New Popular Front?
About a month back, there was no New Popular Front, which is now set to preside over the most seats in the French parliament and is likely to give the new prime minister to the country.
The alliance was hastily assembled after president Emmanuel Macron called a surprise snap parliament election.
The NFP - made up of the Communist Party, the hard left France Unbowed, the Green party and the Socialist Party - has not said who would be its pick for prime minister.
Among the key figures who could likely emerge as the prime ministerial face of the alliance include Jean-Luc Melenchon.
The 72-year-old has been a fixture in French left-wing politics for decades and held ministerial posts in past governments, when he was a member of the Socialist Party.
He ran for president in 2012, 2017 and 2022, improving his score each time. He came third in 2022, just behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Macron won that election.
The other contenders include Marine Tonderlier, the leader of the Greens, Raphael Glucksmann of Socialist Party and Laurent Berger, a former head of one of France’s main trade unions, the moderate CFDT.
Here we have some of the latest photos France
Below we have some of the latest photos coming out of France last night as the exit polls showed that Marine Le Pen’s far right National Rally had failed to capitalise on their electoral success during the first round of voting last month.
Far right thwarted by shock win for left in French elections
Far right thwarted by shock win for left in French elections
Leftist New Popular Front emerges as frontrunner in dramatic blow to Marine Le Pen’s far right
Watch live view of French National Assembly as country faces political deadlock after election result
Watch live view of French National Assembly as country faces political deadlock
Watch a live view of the French National Assembly on Monday 8 July after surprise election results.
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