French far-right beaten in regional elections – exit polls

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves a voting booth in Henin-Beaumont, northern France (Michel Spingler/AP)

Mainstream candidates have delivered a stinging setback to France’s far-right in regional elections on Sunday, according to polling agency estimates.

The Ifop polling agency estimated that the far-right National Rally took just over 20% of the vote nationally, trailing both the mainstream right and the combined weight of green and leftist candidates.