Left-Wing Coalition Wins Largest Number of Seats in France’s Runoff Elections: Projections

Voters stand in line to cast their ballots during the second round of France's crunch legislative elections at a polling station in the town hall of Ajaccio, on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica on July 7, 2024. (Pascal Rochard-Casabianca/AFP via Getty Images)

According to early projections from the second round of voting for the French National Assembly, the left-wing New Popular Front coalition is expected to win the largest share of seats.

However, none of the three major contenders is poised to take an absolute majority, setting the stage for political gridlock in France.

Speaking to supporters as results began to come in, left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called the results “a considerable victory.”

Mr. Mélenchon chalked up the victory to “a political stance that let us rally the people.”

The left-wing coalition was the result of a last-minute political alliance thrown together on June 10 following the National Rally victory in the European Parliament elections. The coalition includes most of France’s major left-wing parties.

Early projections from the second round of balloting, which will determine the composition of the National Assembly for the rest of French President Emmanuel Macron’s term in office, show that Mr. Macron’s centrist coalition is trailing the left, with the National Rally on track to come in third.

Following the results, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal—the leader of Mr. Macron’s faction in the National Assembly—announced that he would resign.

Mr. Macron said that he would “wait for the new National Assembly to organize itself” before making any decisions on the new government.

The National Assembly is scheduled to gather in full session for the first time on July 18. The statement says that Mr. Macron will ensure that the “sovereign choice of the French people will be respected.”

During the first round of voting last week, Marine Le Pen’s right-wing populist National Rally Party seemed poised to take a majority of seats in the French parliament, leading in more than half of all districts during the first round.

Following the first-round results, in which the National Rally led with about 34 percent of the vote, both left-wing and centrist coalitions banded together in an effort to defeat the right, with more than 200 third-place centrist and left-wing candidates withdrawing from the runoff to consolidate the anti-right vote.

However, projections still indicate that the right will walk away from the election with its largest share of seats ever in the National Assembly.

Speaking about the results, Jordan Bardella—Ms. Le Pen’s 28-year-old political protege who would have become prime minister had his party won—said that his party was “ready to assume its responsibilities” as one of the three major blocs in the National Assembly.

Mr. Bardella denounced the political maneuvering that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations. An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for the runoff stepped aside to allow an opponent to go head-to-head with the National Rally candidate, increasing the chances of defeating them.

“We don’t want power for power’s sake,” he said.

Mr. Bardella said that he and his party’s “intention for the true recovery of the country is stronger than ever.”

“I will be there, for you, with you, until victory,” he said.

Ms. Le Pen has already faced off against Mr. Macron in the past two French presidential elections, and she is currently favored by many as the frontrunner for the 2027 French presidential election.

While final results have yet to come in, the prospect of a divided parliament with no single majority leaves many questions about French governance moving forward.