French Prime Minister to Remain in Office Temporarily Following Defeat of Far-Right on Parliamentary Elections

In the early parliamentary elections in France, the left-wing New People's Front won a landslide victory, with the presidential party finishing second and the far-right National Rally and its allies coming in third. 

This is according to the official election results on the website of the French Ministry of the Interior.

According to the data, the voter turnout this time was the highest in the last 40 years:  59.71% of French voters had cast their ballots by 17:00 on Sunday (11:00 a.m. ET), a level not seen since 1981.

As a result of the election, the left wins a majority of seats, but no single party wins a majority.  The New People's Front will have 182 seats in the parliament. The presidential bloc will have 163 seats, and the "National Union" and its allies will have 143 seats. Republicans will receive 45 seats, according to estimates.  

There are 577 seats in the French National Assembly, so no political force has gained the required majority of 289 votes for an outright victory.

Turnout in the second round of the general election was 66.7%, the same as in the first round. This is also the highest turnout in a snap parliamentary election since 1997.

Following the announcement of the election results, French President Emmanuel Macron asked Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to remain in office for the time being to "ensure the stability of the country," Le Figaro reported, citing the Elysee Palace.

After the second round on 7 July, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he was resigning because the centrist camp to which he belongs did not win a majority.

As a reminder, on 9 June, French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly, the French parliament, after losing the European Parliament elections, where the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen gained about 33%, Macron's party 15%, and the Socialists 14%.

The first round of early elections was held on 30 June. According to exit polls, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party led in the first round of the French parliamentary elections, Le Figaro reports, with about 34% of the vote. The second place was taken by a bloc of left-wing parties, the New People's Front, with about 29%. Next was the party of incumbent President Macron, which received 21.5% of the vote.

According to the official results of the second round of parliamentary elections in France, left-wing parties won.