Far-right party leads 1st round of France's snap legislative elections, exit polls show

The French far-right party National Rally (RN) is leading the first round of France's snap legislative elections held on Sunday, exit polls showed, but the final result will depend on days of horsetrading before next week's run-off.

RN was seen winning around 34 percent of the vote, exit polls from Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe showed, in a huge setback for President Emmanuel Macron who had called the snap election after his ticket was trounced by RN in European Parliament elections earlier this month.

The New Popular Front (NFP), an alliance of left-wing parties, gained 28.5 percent of the vote, the exit polls suggested, with Macron's centrist coalition in third with 22 percent.

Marine Le Pen, RN's leader in parliament, called on voters to back RN in the second round of the legislative elections to allow it an absolute majority in the National Assembly, which would allow the far-right party to take the position of prime minister in the next government.

The second round, set for July 7, will eventually decide how many deputies political camps will have in the National Assembly. 

Macron called on voters to rally behind candidates who are "clearly republican and democratic," which, based on his recent declarations, would exclude candidates from the RN and from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that not one single vote should go to RN during next week's second round.  

For Jordan Bardella, president of RN, the second round of the legislative elections will be "one of the most decisive in the entire history of the Fifth Republic."

"I call on all French people attached to their freedom, to the recovery of France, to join us," he said.

Speaking to his supporters, Jean-Luc Melenchon, founder of LFI, which is part of the NFP, said that the French "are heading towards a second round of exceptional intensity."

He called on voters to choose the NFP over RN, as the NFP is the "only" alternative following the "heavy and indisputable" defeat of Macron's coalition.

(With input from agencies)