The far-right National Rally within reach of the dominant French party after the first round of elections | France

Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration party is close to becoming the largest political force in the French parliament after a historically high result in the first round of early parliamentary elections.

The left and centrists immediately began calling for a tactical vote to try to stop the far right in the final round of elections next Sunday, after exit polls showed the National Rally (RN) had achieved a strong result.

Official results showed the Royal Navy and its allies receiving 33% of the popular vote, with the left-wing New Popular Front coming second with 28%. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc came third with 20%.

Speaking after the polls closed, Le Pen said the French “in a clear vote… wanted to turn the page on seven years of contemptuous and corrosive (presidency)” of Macron. In her opinion, the president’s centrists were almost “destroyed” by the National Council, which now hoped to increase its 88 seats in parliament to a majority of 289.

It is still seen as a tough challenge, but if it happens in the crucial second round of voting next Sunday, it would be the first time in French history that a far-right party has won a parliamentary election and formed a government. In such a scenario, Macron – who called the election three weeks ago after losing to the National Council in the European elections – would have to share power.

Similarly, the RN could win the largest number of seats, but would not win a majority. Macron could then find himself in a situation where a hung parliament would be unable to govern the EU’s second-largest economy and its greatest military power.

The New Popular Front (NFP), a leftist coalition formed to contain the far right, won 28% of the vote.

“We have a week to stop the far right from coming to power, all progressives and humanists… must mobilise around the New Popular Front,” said Clémentine Autain of the leftist France Unbowed party ahead of next week’s second round of voting.

Macron’s centrist alliance was the largest grouping in parliament but could now lose more than half of its seats.

The nationwide vote share indicates a broad voting trend, but it does not allow for a prediction of the exact composition of the 577-seat parliament, which will only be revealed in the final round on July 7. Most constituencies will now go to a second round. A record number of them will be three-way run-offs.

On Sunday evening, Jordan Bardella, a Le Pen protégé and party chairman, said he wanted to be “the prime minister of all the French.” But in cities including Paris, Lyon, Lille, Nantes and Strasbourg, thousands of people took part in street demonstrations against his party. Large crowds gathered in the capital’s Place de la République, where leading figures in the leftist alliance spoke out against the far right.

Bardella said he would only become prime minister when his party won an absolute majority. He ruled out an attempt to form a minority government and neither Macron nor the left-wing NFP group will form an alliance with him.

“I will be prime minister in cohabitation,” he said, referring to the fact that Macron will remain president. He announced that he would “respect the constitution and the office of the President of the Republic, but will be uncompromising on the policies we will implement.”

The RN’s chances of winning power will depend on the political arrangements made by its rivals in the coming days. In the past, traditional right-wing and left-wing parties have made agreements to withdraw candidates from the second round to avoid splitting the vote against the RN. But the tactical voting strategy known as the “republican front” to block the RN is less certain than ever.

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In a written statement, Macron urged voters to support candidates who are “clearly republican and democratic”, which, based on his recent declarations, would exclude candidates from the RN and from Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Indomitable party, but not candidates representing the more moderate left-wing NFP party.

In a speech, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal repeated that appeal, saying that since the RN is in power, the candidates in third place in the second round should withdraw. “Not a single vote can go to the National Assembly… The stakes are clear: to prevent the National Assembly from obtaining an absolute majority,” he said.

Mélenchon said the left-wing alliance would withdraw all its candidates who finished third in the first round, saying: “Our guidelines are simple and clear: not one more vote for the National Rally.”

Several RN MPs were elected in the first round, including Marine Le Pen. In northern France, one of the most popular figures of the French left – the leader of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel – was eliminated in the first round by the RN candidate, Guillaume Florquin.

The turnout of more than 69% – significantly higher than the 2022 election turnout of just 47.5% – was the highest in almost 40 years in an increasingly polarized country where Macron said a victory for the far right or far left could lead to a “civil war” in France.

Risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said the RN was “likely” not to win an absolute majority. France faces “at least 12 months of dogged obstruction of the National Assembly and – at best – a technocratic ‘national unity’ government with limited governing capacity,” she added.

For decades, the Front National, co-founded by Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was considered a threat to democracy because it promoted racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim views. Center and left-wing politicians tried to remind voters of the history of the 52-year-old party, which at the beginning had in its ranks former members of the Waffen-SS military unit led by the Nazis during World War II. However, the renamed party gained popularity after a years-long public relations campaign by Marine Le Pen to normalize its policies and detoxify its image.

The anti-immigration party has, however, maintained its traditional doctrine, once known as “France for the French” or “national preference,” which it has renamed “national priority.” This means that if the RN were in power, French citizens would have priority over foreigners in terms of jobs, social assistance, and housing. The party has pledged to exclude dual nationals from certain strategic government positions in France. It wants to abolish citizenship rights for children born and raised in France by foreign parents.

Macron stunned and confused his own government and supporters with his decision this month to dissolve parliament and call early elections after his centrist, pro-European party was defeated by the RN in EU elections, saying he was calling for the vote to “clarify” the French political landscape.