France's far-right National Rally (RN) party has won the first round of the country's legislative elections, according to exit polls.
The background: Projections from prominent French polling firms gave Marine Le Pen's RN 34.5 per cent of the vote, compared to 28.5-29.1 per cent for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance, and 20.5-21.5 per cent for President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance.
But it's unclear if RN will secure the absolute majority of seats in the new National Assembly in the 7 July second round that it needs to be certain of winning power.
The key quote: "Democracy has spoken." — National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.
What else to know: Macron had stunned the nation and baffled even some allies by calling snap polls after the RN trounced his centrist forces in European Parliament elections this month.
But that gamble risks backfiring, with Macron's alliance now expected to win a far smaller minority contingent in parliament. That would make the president a far less powerful figure for the remaining three years of his term.
