Emmanuel Macron's political party En Marche! has a clear lead in the first round of the parliamentary elections in France.
Macron is on course to obtain a parliamentary majority, which boots his chances of implementing his pro-business reforms.
Pollsters said well over 30% of those who voted today picked Mr Macron's party in the first round, a result which could deliver him as much as three quarters of lower house seats when the second round results come in next week.
A voté. pic.twitter.com/sSbACiV7Nm
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 11, 2017
With 46% of votes counted from Sunday’s balloting, the Interior Ministry said Macron’s Republic on the Move party had more than 26% of votes in the elections for the 577 seats in the National Assembly.
The conservative Republicans had 16%, the far-right National Front 14%, while the far-left party of Jean-Luc Melenchon had 10%.
France’s Prime Minister also declared victory for President Emmanuel Macron’s new centrist party in the first round of parliamentary elections.
PM Edouard Philippe said "France is back," pledging to move ahead quickly with bold reforms to French worker protections and security policy.
Le Pen's problems
Meanwhile, the runner-up in the French presidential election Marine Le Pen lamented the "catastrophic" turnout in the first round of parliamentary elections .
She urged "patriotic" voters to turn out en masse in the second round on June 18th and boost her party’s small presence in the National Assembly.
She hopes to be a strong opposition force, but her party is only projected to hold about a dozen seats.
