France's Emmanuel Macron set to lose majority - projection

By Paul KirbyIn Paris

8 minutes ago

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President Macron needed 289 seats to maintain his majority in the National Assembly but is on course to fall well short

Less than two months after he was re-elected president, Emmanuel Macron is on course to lose control of the French National Assembly after a strong performance by rival parties.

His centrist Ensemble coalition is on course to win parliamentary elections, according to projected results.

But he is set to lose dozens of seats and would struggle to push his reforms.

A left-green alliance is projected to come second, but Marine Le Pen's far-right party have also done well.

Mr Macron had more than 300 seats in the outgoing parliament and defeated Ms Le Pen's National Rally convincingly in the presidential election in April. To maintain his outright majority he needed 289 seats but Sunday's projection of around 210 to 250 seats is worse than the pollsters expected.

Far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon's left-green alliance called Nupes is set to win 150 to 180 seats, while the far-right National Rally is on course to go from eight seats to between 80 and 100, says TF1 TV.

A separate projection for France Télévisions gave a more concrete result.

The French president is in danger of losing several of his current ministers and already one of his closest allies, the president of the Assembly Richard Ferrand, has conceded victory to his Nupes rival Mélanie Thomin, wishing her success after a narrow defeat.

An earlier casualty for the government came on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, where a secretary of state, Justine Benin, lost her seat and will have to resign. Other ministers also at risk include Europe Minister Clément Beaune and Green Transition Minister Amélie de Montchalin.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who voted in Marseille, formed an alliance made up of Communists, Socialists, Greens and his own far-left party

What are they offering?

President Macron has promised a "new method" of governing with greater involvement from civil society. He's proposing:

• A National Council for Refoundation made up of local people to make France more democratic
• Reforms to tackle the high cost of living and action towards full employment and carbon neutrality
• Pension reforms and gradually raising the retirement age to 65

The left-green alliance wants:

• Retirement lowered from 62 to 60
• Minimum wages (known as Smic) to go up by about 15% to €1,500 a month
• A freeze on the prices of basic essentials and the creation of a million jobs.

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