STORY: :: Protesters clash with police in Paris after
election results saw a shock victory for the left
:: July 7, 2024
:: Paris, France
The results, based on pollsters' projections, were a setback for Marine Le Pen's nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (RN), which opinion polls had predicted would be the largest party, but which placed only third.
The second round of elections threw up a hung parliament, with a leftist alliance unexpectedly taking the top spot ahead of the far right.
They were also a blow for centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who called the ballot after his ticket was trounced in a European Parliament election last month.
The election will leave parliament divided in three big groups - the left, centrists, and the far right, with hugely different platforms and no tradition at all of working together.
