An early lead in second-round election polls for France’s left-wing alliance garnered shock and relief as it appeared to be an upset over far-right rivals that led after the first round of voting.

Paris

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France snap election

French left-wing alliance surprises with election comeback

An early lead for France’s left-wing alliance in the second round of election polls has generated both shock and relief, as they appear to overcome far-right contenders who led after the first round of voting. Crowds gathered around the statue of Marianne to celebrate the outcome, enveloping the square with cheers and street vendors.

The result forces French President Emmanuel Macron to potentially collaborate with leftist factions for the next prime minister. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, which had a strong first-round showing, was relegated to third place due to strategic alliances formed by leftist and centrist parties.

Jordan Bardella, President of National Rally, called the result the most significant breakthrough in the party's history. National Rally, a modern iteration of the National Front, has been working to shed its xenophobic image under Le Pen’s leadership, with sights set on the 2027 presidential election.

France’s left-wing alliance, consisting of communists, socialists, greens, and the party France Unbowed led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is diverse. However, internal discord may pose challenges in agreeing on a prime minister candidate if given the opportunity, a scenario that remains uncertain.



French voters back leftists, reject far right

It was here, to the battle-scarred emblem of the French Republic that those celebrating flocked after the exit polls were announced. The statue of Marianne and the entire square soon enveloped by cheering crowds and street vendors quick to see an opportunity when it arrives. It was also relief for those on the French left. We've just been so stressed and it's just so exciting. I'm just, yeah, I'm in shock in a positive way but this is such an unexpected result. And it's created expectations in this crowd that Emmanuel Macron will now have to look to the left for France's next prime minister. There is little sympathy for the French president or his decision to call a snap election in the first place. He chose to do that so he played a bad game. The people here have staved off what they see as the immediate threat to their country but this isn't all of France and what comes next is still unclear. Leftist and centrist parties were able to reverse last week's first round win for Marine Le Pen's far-right national rally by forging strategic alliances knocking her party into third place. Macron's centrist bloc came second. Not enough for his gamble to have paid off. The remaining years of his presidency about to become a lot more difficult with an even more antagonistic parliament. National rally's president Jordan Bardella called the result the most important breakthrough in the party's history. National rally is a modern version of the National Front founded by Le Pen's father, a holocaust denier. She's worked to clean up its image as a xenophobic party and set her sights on the 2027 presidential election. A sobering possibility for those in the square who say the far-right has come too close to power. I'm not celebrating because I know what it would mean if it did pass today so I can't really feel happy. And Margaret, what do we know about France's left alliance? Well it's made up of communists, socialists, greens and a party called France Unbowed which is led by a man called Jean-Luc Mélenchon. He is an extremely divisive figure considered radical on the hard left and you have center-left parties already trying to distance themselves from him. So this is an alliance, this left-wing alliance which is broad. It's going to have a lot of trouble though agreeing on a candidate to put forward for prime minister if they're asked to do so and of course as we know that's by no means a given at this stage. CBC senior international correspondent Margaret Evans in Paris tonight.

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