French election: exit poll predicts shock win for leftwing alliance

France’s leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition is expected to have won the most seats in the second voting round of parliamentary elections, leading pollsters said on 7 July, putting it on track for an unexpected win over the far-right National Rally (RN) but short of an absolute majority. An Elabe poll for BFM TV projected 175-205 seats for the NFP, while an Opinionway poll for C News TV said it would win 180-210 seats. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc was seen narrowly ahead of Marine Le Pen’s RN in second place. For an absolute majority in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, 289 seats are needed