French parties rush to build anti-far right front after election results

A longtime pariah for many in France, the RN is now closer to power than it has ever been.

Supporters of French far right leader Marine Le Pen react after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies. Picture: AP Photo/Thibault Camus

France's political parties rushed to build a united front aimed at blocking the path to government of Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) on Monday, after it made historic gains to win the first round of a parliamentary election.

The RN and its allies won Sunday's round with 33% of the vote, followed by a left-wing bloc with 28% and well ahead of French president Emmanuel Macron's centrists, who scored just 20%, official results from the interior ministry showed.