Nobody expected this. High drama, for sure, but this was a shock.

When the graphics flashed up on all the big French channels, it was not the far right of Marine Le Pen and her young prime minister-in-waiting Jordan Bardella who were on course for victory.

It was the left who had clinched it, and Emmanuel Macron's centrists - the Ensemble alliance - had staged an unexpected comeback, pushing the far-right National Rally (RN) into third.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the veteran left-wing firebrand seen by his critics as an extremist, wasted no time in proclaiming victory.

French prime minister Gabriel Attal announced his intention to resign after the country’s legislative elections gave a first-place plurality to the left-wing New Popular Front coalition in the second round of voting on Sunday.

“Faithful to the Republican tradition and in accordance with my principles, tomorrow morning I will submit my resignation to the president of the Republic,” said Attal, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron and a political centrist.

French prime minister Gabriel Attal announced his intention to resign after the country’s legislative elections gave a first-place plurality to the left-wing New Popular Front coalition in the second round of voting on Sunday.

“Faithful to the Republican tradition and in accordance with my principles, tomorrow morning I will submit my resignation to the president of the Republic,” said Attal, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron and a political centrist.

France’s elections have produced a fractious parliament that threatens an unprecedented period of political paralysis, revealing a country that is deeply split along lines of class, geography and religion.

No party came close to a majority, and the lawmakers elected Sunday are now grouped into blocs with profound differences. The New Popular Front, an alliance of leftist parties that won the most seats in parliament, is a diverse coalition whose most powerful faction is a polarizing, far-left party, France Unbowed.

Of all the smallish towns I have stayed in along France’s Rhône Valley, Tournon-sur-Rhône is my least favourite. It’s a loud town with an old expressway, Route Nationale 86, running through it.

The last time Emmanuel Macron was spotted in public, he was sporting a dark aviator’s jacket, Top Gun sunglasses and a black baseball cap.

His incognito rock star look, as he voted in the coastal town of Le Touquet Sunday, attracted plenty of attention on social media and rolling news channels.

But despite that moment of swagger, the truth is that Macron has taken a step back from public view lately. Apart from planned international commitments, he hasn’t been seen out and about for almost two weeks.

The collapse of support for French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in legislative elections Sunday has ignited hope among the French left that it can recast itself as the primary competition to the rising far right in the country.

An alliance of leftist parties, the New Popular Front, came in second in the election, garnering 28 percent, behind the far-right National Rally, which won 33 percent. Macron’s centrist alliance secured only 21 percent, and is projected to lose more than half of its Assembly seats.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party led the first round of France’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, taking it closer to the gates of power than ever before.

After an unusually high turnout, the RN bloc clinched 33.15% of the vote, while the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition came second with 27.99% and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble alliance slumped to a dismal third with 20.76%, according to final results published by the Interior Ministry on Monday.

France’s far right is in pole position after the first round of parliamentary elections that confirmed their dominance in French politics and brought them to the gates of power.

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

RN won 33.1% of the vote, with a left-wing alliance behind on 28%, and the Macron camp behind on 20.76%.

“I aim to be prime minister for all the French people, if the French give us their votes,” said 28-year-old RN party leader Jordan Bardella.

France’s right-wing National Rally party on Sunday made considerable gains in the country’s first round of elections, putting the centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his supporters on edge. 

Early projections suggest that the National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time, with an estimated one-third of the first-round vote, nearly double their 18% in the first round in 2022.