French Socialists make headway in first round

The definitive results are difficult for the pollsters to call after the first round, which is principally a process to sift out the less popular candidates.

Those who pass the threshold of 12.5 per cent of registered voters in a constituency go on to fight the second round, which is a first past the post vote.

On initial analysis, the Socialist Party appears not to have won enough to secure an overall majority in the Assembly on its own.

But adding in vital support from coalition allies like the Greens, research suggests that the left bloc could comfortably pass the 289 seats needed for control of the chamber without calling on the support of the far-left, who do not necessarily share the same pro-European stance as the mainstream parties.

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