Macron's majority in doubt after first-round of parliament vote
French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance was in danger of falling short of a majority after a first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday that saw a surge in support for a new leftwing coalition.
Macron's "Ensemble" (Together) alliance ran neck-and-neck with the leftwing NUPES grouping in Sunday's first round, with both scoring around 25-26 percent of the popular vote.
Extrapolating from these figures, polling firms projected that Ensemble would win 225-310 seats in the second round of voting next Sunday, possibly short of a majority of 289 but comfortably the biggest party.
"We have a week ahead of us to mobilise," Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne told reporters. "One week to convince, one week to obtain a powerful and clear majority."
NUPES, a newly unified leftwing alliance of leftists, Socialists, Greens and Communists, was seen as winning 150-220 seats, a major breakthrough that would make them the biggest opposition force in the National Assembly.
If Macron's coalition does fall short, it is expected to lead to messy bill-by-bill deals with right-wing parties in parliament, or he would have to try to poach opposition or independent MPs to his side.
