France: left advance and right surge as Macron loses majority
Just like in round one, the results of the second round of the French legislative election deviated greatly from the “projections” published by the pollsters ahead of the ballot. None had anticipated such a bad result for ‘moderate’ President Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche (LREM), which now lacks the seats required for an absolute majority by a margin of 43. Equally, none had anticipated the result of the right-wing National Rally (RN), which is entering the National Assembly with 89 seats. These two facts are linked: the LREM candidates lost many more contested seats than expected to RN. But the left-wing New Ecologic and Social People's Union (NUPES) also lost more than expected to the RN.