Emmanuel Macron celebrates massive win for En Marche! over Marine Le Pen in French parliamentary elections…but what does it mean for Brexit?
Results from the first-round of voting showed Mr Macron’s En Marche! party winning a huge majority over his rivals
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is set to gain a huge parliamentary majority after voters' support for the National Front and Socialist Party collapsed yesterday.
Results from the first-round of voting showed Mr Macron’s En Marche! party winning 32.32 per cent – a figure that will translate to as many as 430 places in the 577 seat parliament.
This compares to 9.5 per cent of the vote for the Socialist Party (PS), who have just spent the last five years running France, with Francois Hollande in charge as president.
The result also has huge implications for Brexit, as it places Macron - who has vowed to enforce a "hard Brexit" - and his party firmly in the country's driving seat.
Among the first round casualties on Sunday was Benoit Hamon, who was the PS candidate to replace Mr Hollande.
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Marine Le Pen’s far-Right National Front thought they would emerge as the new parliamentary opposition, but polled just 13.2 per cent.
This will translate to between one and a dozen seats in the Paris National Assembly at the most.
Ms Le Pen blamed a "catastrophic abstention rate", which saw just over 50 per cent take part in the election – the lowest figure in the history of the Fifth Republic.
But Mr Macron’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe today said the results showed "France is back".
Referring to the period since Mr Macron was elected on May 7, Mr Philippe said: "For the past month, the president has shown confidence, willingness and daring in France and on the international stage."
The second and final round of voting takes place on Sunday, when Mr Macron, a former finance minister, hopes a solid majority will enable him to introduce business-friendly reforms.
They will also strengthen the passionately pro-EU head of state in Brexit negotiations with Prime Minister Theresa May, who last week lost the Conservatives' parliamentary majority in a disastrous election.
Tomorrow Mrs May will meet with Mr Macron in Paris on the day that the France and England football teams meet in a friendly at the Stade de France.
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