Monday Briefing

Celebrating the results in Place de la République in Paris.Credit…Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

The left surges in French elections

France faced a hung Parliament and deep political uncertainty after snap legislative elections yesterday left none of the three main political groups of the left, center and right with an absolute majority.

The left-wing New Popular Front came in first, with 178 seats, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition was in second place with 150 seats, and the National Rally, Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant party, and its allies took 142 seats.

The preliminary results upended widespread predictions of a clear victory for the National Rally. A scramble by centrists and the left to form a “Republican front” to stymie the National Rally in the second round of voting seems to have worked. Candidates across France had dropped out of three-way races and called for unity against Le Pen’s party.

The election was a major blow to Macron, who lost more than a third of the seats held by his party and its allies. He is left with a deeply divided lower house of Parliament, no governing coalition immediately likely and the Paris Olympics set to open in less than three weeks. Here’s what might come next.

Details: The New Popular Front campaigned on raising the monthly minimum wage, lowering the legal retirement age, reintroducing a wealth tax and freezing the price of energy and gas. Instead of cutting immigration, as the National Rally vowed, the alliance said it would improve the asylum process. Read more about the alliance.

For more: Why some rural voters became National Rally supporters.