France went to the polls Sunday in the first round of regional polls seen as a test of voters' mood ahead of next year's all-important presidential contest. Follow the election as it happened on our liveblog.
- The conservative Les Républicains party surged to a first-round lead ahead of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and parties of the centre and left.
- President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling LREM party suffered setbacks in most regions, failing to reach the 10 percent threshold required to qualify for the runoff vote in the flashpoint Hauts-de-France region.
- Le Pen’s National Rally fell short of expectations, though it still harbours hopes of winning the southern Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, which includes Marseille, in next week's runoff.
- In the Paris region, conservative incumbent Valérie Pécresse is well ahead, one of six candidates poised to qualify for the second round.
- The elections, which followed a gruelling year and a half of lockdowns and curfews, were marred by record-low turnout of under 34%.
- The second round of voting will take place on June 27.
