Left-wing parties win surprise victory in French elections, exit polls show

London | Left-wing parties have come out on top in the second round of France’s legislative elections, in a surprise result that propelled Marine Le Pen’s right-wing populist National Rally party into third place.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition of centrist parties also fared better than expected. If the polls are accurate, he appears to have succeeded in his risky gamble of trying to stifle the rise of the National Rally before it took root.