Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen lick wounds after France’s regional elections

French President Emmanuel Macron, is welcomed by conservative northern France region president Xavier Bertrand, left, upon his arrival to visit the site of the future factory of Japan-based battery maker Envision AESC group (Ludovic Marin/AP)

President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party was decimated in this weekend’s regional elections and Marine Le Pen’s far-right party failed, upending expectations that the presidential race in 10 months will be a showdown between the two politicians.

The results of Sunday’s voting have now bolstered hopes of the mainstream conservative right, in disarray for years with a series of internal crises, to pose a serious challenge to both Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen in the presidential election in April 2022.