Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party leads in first round of French election

Marine Le Pen's extreme right National Rally party has won the most votes in the initial stage of France's parliamentary elections.

Following the initial voting round over the weekend, National Rally was in the lead with 33.14%, with the left-wing New Popular Front coalition close behind at 27.99%. Meanwhile, Ensemble, which includes President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, was in third place with 20.76%, as reported by France's interior ministry.

Speaking to her followers in Henin-Beaumont, in the north of France, Ms Le Pen acknowledged that victory is not guaranteed, and the final results will be decided in the second round.

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She advised voters to "stay cautious" in the upcoming days and encouraged them to "rally together" for the second round on 7 July.

The outcome is nearly twice the 18% that National Rally got in the 2022 elections. This positions them well to potentially become the biggest party in the lower house of France.

France uses a system where there is both a president and a prime minister. The elections currently taking place are for the 577 seats in the National Assembly.

The blog post talks about how Mr. Macron became the president after winning the presidential election.

The setup involves having both a president and a prime minister, each with their own distinct powers.

Mr Macron decided to hold a parliamentary election sooner than expected because his Renaissance party suffered heavy losses to Ms Le Pen's anti-immigration party in the European elections.

The 28-year-old apprentice and head of the party, Jordan Bardella, has seen a surge in support, especially from younger voters on TikTok, as dissatisfaction with Mr. Macron grows.

Learn more: What is National Rally?

He informed his followers in Paris on Sunday night: "Three weeks after the European elections, the French population has delivered a verdict and has reaffirmed their strong desire for change.

"This is inspiring hope across the nation."

He raised concerns about the risks associated with the second-place left-wing coalition and expressed worries about its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon potentially endangering France's very existence.

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Mr. Bardella encouraged his followers to come together before the upcoming vote and stated that winning on July 7th is achievable.

Even though the final outcome may not be fully determined until next week due to the two-round voting system, if National Rally comes out on top, then Mr. Macron would have to appoint their leader as the prime minister.

French history has only had three instances where the president and prime minister came from different political parties.