Support for left-wing parties surged unexpectedly in nationwide legislative elections on Sunday, pushing the nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally into third place.
The electoral map showed enduring divisions — with Paris and its suburbs voting for the left and center, and the regions in the far north and south along the Mediterranean voting for the far right.
The country’s political outlook appeared more muddled than before, with three large political blocs, each with a vastly different vision and plan for the country.
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The biggest surprise on Sunday was the triumph of the New Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing parties that is now the dominant force in a bloc of about 190 lawmakers and that has emerged as the lower house’s leading political group.
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The centrist coalition of President Emmanuel Macron, who cast the country into turmoil a month ago by calling the election, was in second place with 150 seats.
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Another shocker was the third-place finish of the National Rally and its allies, which had been expected to win the most seats, if not an absolute majority, in the 577-member National Assembly, the more powerful lower house.
France’s left-wing parties and Mr. Macron’s centrist coalition pulled out over 200 candidates from three-way races in districts where the far right had a chance of clinching a seat. Many voters who abhorred the far right then cast their ballot for whoever was left — even if the candidate was hardly their first choice.