French election

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron took first place, ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, in the first round of France's presidential election on ...

His voters are expected to play a key role in the second round. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came a strong, very close third in the election with more than 22 percent of the vote, managed to sweep up most of the country’s left-leaning votes. But the far right bloc — Marine Le Pen, Eric Zemmour and nationalist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan combined — garnered than 30 percent of the total vote. Both candidates scored higher than five years ago, leaving the traditional right and left in an even more shambolic state than before. Meanwhile, leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon fared better than expected and brings a heavy dose of uncertainty to the mix as his voters are a diverse bunch. Many are likely to abstain in the second round, while others will divide up between the French president and Le Pen.

Emmanuel Macron wins the first round, but the run-off against his far-right rival may be far closer.

She has built her campaign around the cost-of-living crunch facing much of Europe, promising to cut taxes and waive income tax for under-30s. But in the end, the spring sunshine meant turnout was not as low as feared, at almost 75%. Mr Macron's team is already planning a series of big rallies and major TV appearances. Ifop pollster François Dabi said his company's 51%-49% estimate was the closest they had ever predicted. Later in the evening, Mélenchon activists gathered outside his campaign HQ thinking he might even come second, but it was not to be. The battle for votes now starts in earnest.

France's incumbent leader Emmanuel Macron wins the first round, but the run-off against his far-right rival may be far closer.

Twelve candidates were in the running, but these were the only three who polled more than 10 percent. He only started campaigning eight days before, his mind more focused on Russia's war in Ukraine. Ifop pollster François Dabi said his company's 51 percent-49 percent estimate was the closest they had ever predicted. He addressed Le Pen voters too: "I want to convince them in the next few days that our project answers solidly to their fears and challenges of our time." Addressing his supporters, Macron looked a relieved man and he promised to work harder than in the first part of the campaign. With 96 percent of results counted, Emmanuel Macron had 27.42 percent of the vote, Marine Le Pen 24.03 percent and Jean-Luc Mélenchon 21.57 percent.

Will it be the first re-election of a president in 20 years, or third time lucky for his far-right opponent?

She would remove the right of children born in France to foreign parents to obtain French nationality in their teenage years. In 2018 Le Pen renamed the party the National Rally, seeking to get rid of the martial imagery and broaden its appeal. She has promised to renationalise motorways, scrap the TV licence fee and privatise public service broadcasting. During the Covid pandemic, he turned to state interventionism and vast public spending to protect companies and households, boasting of “nationalising wages”, which the public backed. He has promised to gradually raise the pension age from 62 to 65, an unpopular measure. He says that for the first time in 30 years, France is opening more factories that it is closing.