Emmanuel Macron has been left scrambling to form an alliance with left-wing candidates in a desperate bid to block populist Marine Le Pen on July 7.
The French President, who polled third last Sunday, put his protege Prime Minister Gabriel Attal out to bat for the centrist coalition.
Attal warned the right was now at the “gates of power” and implored voters to block National Rally.
Macron even called for a “broad” democratic alliance against the populist right, convening a cabinet meeting to decide a further course of action.
Emmanuel Macron leaves a voting booth, as he visits a polling station to vote in the first round of the early French parliamentary elections, in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, FranceREUTERSThe beleaguered French President reportedly said: “Let's not be mistaken.
“It's the far-right that's on its way to the highest office, no one else.”
However, Macron did not provide further instructions to candidates about standing down.
The deadline to stand down candidates comes later tonight, with more than 150 centrist and left-wing hopefuls already doing so.
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Le Pen's National Rally party (RN) surged to a 33.2 per cent vote shareReutersExperts believe the most likely outcome of the snap election is a hung parliament, with political paralysis engulfing Paris thereafter.
A total of 76 candidates were elected to the 577-seat National Assembly in the first round.
National Rally returned 37 MPs, with one ally on a joint ticket with Le Pen also breaking through.
The left-wing New Popular Front trailed behind in a close second on 32.
Macron ReutersMacron’s Ensemble is languishing in a distant third with just two MPs as it stands.
The result of the first round sparked protests across major French cities, including Paris.
However, Le Pen remains on the offensive and is urging voters to give National Rally an absolute majority which would result in Jordan Bardella becoming Prime Minister.
Such a situation would also lead to a tense period of “cohabitation” between the President and Prime Minister.
Officials across Europe fear the consequences of a victory for the populist right, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warning it represents a “very dangerous” turn for both France and the continental bloc.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who many expect will win the keys to power on July 4, revealed he would work with National Rally if he succeeds Rishi Sunak.
Starmer said: “I will work with any government in Europe and across the world if we are elected in to serve the country. For me, that's what serious Government is about.”
