France decides: Voters propel Macron’s fledgling party to victory with a large majority

French voters gave President Emmanuel Macron’s fledgling party a solid victory in parliamentary elections yesterday, handing the centrist a strong mandate to overhaul the country’s labour laws.

Polling agency

projections suggested Mr Macron’s Republic on the Move! Party could take 355 to 425 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, the powerful lower house, far more than the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority to carry out his programme.

Voters showed little enthusiasm for the election in what could turn out to be a record low turnout.

At the end of the afternoon, turnout stood at only 35 per cent – below last week’s record low.