Irish Examiner view: Left-wing alliance thwarts Marine Le Pen's ambitions in French elections

Exit polls seem to bear out the oft-quoted truism about French elections: 'In the first round, you vote for what you want; in the second, you vote against what you fear'

People gathered late on Sunday in Paris as exit polls suggested the left-wing coalition that quickly banded together since last week's first-round vote would prevail in their aim of limiting the surging right wing in the legislative elections. Picture: Aurelien Morissard/AP

As the exit polls arrived last night from the second round of voting in France’s parliamentary elections, a picture began to emerge of the performance of the right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group of Marine Le Pen.

And it was one in which their ambitions to become a prime influence in one of the great European nations seem to have been thwarted by a hastily assembled coalitions of centrists, greens, left wingers, and communists, who tactically withdrew third candidates from more than 200 seats in order to give French voters a simple and contrasting choice.