MAC WHACKED
Emmanuel Macron suffers humiliating defeat to France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen in EU elections
The controversial firebrand's party National Rally won 25 per cent of the vote while Macron's En Marche came second with 21.5 per cent
FAR-right leader Marine Le Pen's party has topped the Euro elections in France beating President Emmanuel Macron's centrist group.
The country's Interior Ministry published results based on 81 per cent of the votes counted, placing Le Pen's National Rally at 25 per cent support and Macron's En Marche at 21.5 per cent.
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Some votes in France's biggest cities, which tend to benefit Macron more, remain to be counted.
The National Rally's result appears close to its score at the previous 2014 European elections.
Meanwhile, the green party EELV came in third position with 12.8 per cent support.
France's traditional parties, which were eviscerated by Marcon's presidential win in 2017, were still far behind in Sunday's vote, getting eight per cent for the Republicans conservative party to six per cent for the Socialist party.
Le Pen tonight hailed a "victory for the French people" after earlier forecasts predicted her party's victory.
The 50-year-old poured scorn on President Emmanuel Macron, 41.
In celebratory speech, Ms Le Pen said: “It is the President and his policies that are rejected.”
She added: “The French people have made their voice heard with unexpected force.
“This is immensely satisfying for all of those who have never ceased to believe in France.”
Sources close to Mr Macron meanwhile said that he was “satisfied with a result that was not unexpected.”
This is despite him projecting the election as an “existential moment” in Europe’s fight against populism in Europe.
A victory for the French people
Len Pen on the predicted result
Mr Macron has been struggling to cope with a number of threats since coming to power in 2017, including the anti-government Yellow Vests movement which has been rioting in major French cities since November.
The election results will translate to his newly-formed party gaining 23 seats in the European Parliament, while the National Rally will get 24.
This does not represent a significant gain for the Le Pen’s party, which was called the National Front (FN) until last year when it was rebranded.
EU elections see surge in populism while centrists lose grip on power
- The European Union's traditional centre splintered in the hardest-fought elections in decades, with the far right and pro-environment parties gaining ground.
- Turnout was at a two-decade high over the balloting across the 28 EU countries.
- In France, an electorate that voted Macron into office in 2017 did an about-face and the party of his defeated opponent, Marine Le Pen, drew into first place.
- In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition saw a drastic loss in support to the Greens and, to a lesser extent, the far right.
- Italy's League party, led by Matteo Salvini, claimed 32 per cent of the vote in early projections, compared with around six per cent five years ago.
- Hungary's increasingly authoritarian PM Viktor Orban, a possible ally of Salvini, said he hopes the election will bring a shift toward parties that want to stop migration.
- The results will likely leave Parliament's two main parties, the European People's Party and the Socialists & Democrats, without a majority for the first time since 1979, opening the way for complicated talks to form a working coalition.
- The Greens and the ALDE free-market liberals were jockeying to become decisive in the body.
- Le Pen called for a “powerful” far-right group in the EU Parliament .
Despite being a Eurosceptic party, the National Rally has used the European Parliament to raise its profile, especially as it has found it hard to win seats in the National Assembly, France’s domestic parliament.
Ms Le Pen’s father, anti-Semite Jean-Marie Le Pen, founded the FN as an extreme nationalist party, but his daughter has tried to soften its image.
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Mr Le Pen has just stood down as an MEP and Marine is now relying on far-Right allies in countries such as Austria and Italy to push her anti-immigrant agenda.
She has rejected moves towards a Frexit – getting France out of the EU – instead saying she wants to reform the bloc from within.
It was also a good night for the Greens in France, as polls put them on 12 per cent of the popular vote.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called for a snap election following the defeat of his party in the EU vote.
His leftist party Syriza came second to the country's centre-right party New Democracy, reports Sky News.
Tsipras said from the Syriza party offices that "the result does not rise to our expectations ... I will not ignore it or quit."
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