French leftists 'prepare to govern' with 90% tax on rich after shock win in snap elections

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Together bloc came in second with 168 seats, and Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s National Rally (RN) finished third with 143 seats.

The unexpected result leaves French politics in deadlock, with no party able to form a government by itself as they did not gain a majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.

The NPF - composed of the Socialists, the Greens, the Communists, and the radical left-wing France Unbowed party - have not nominated a candidate for French Prime Minister.

The coalition met on Monday to try and agree on who they should put forward for the role.

Manuel Bompard, from the hard-left France Unbowed party, said: “We are preparing to govern, to apply the programme which is ours.

“The president must appoint as prime minister someone from the New Popular Front to implement the NFP's programme, the whole programme and nothing but the programme.”

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The NPF’s economic policies include: a new 90 per cent tax on those earning more than €400,000; raising the minimum wage by 14 per cent; a reduction in retirement age from 64 to 60; implementing price controls on essential foods, electricity, gas and petrol; and spending commitments of at least €150billion over three years.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal resigned but was then asked by Macron to stay on the role "for the time being to ensure the country's stability", as the Olympics are due to kick off in under two weeks.

Bompard disagreed with the decision and urged Macron to 'respect' the election result, adding: “There is no question of Gabriel Attal's contribution as Prime Minister, wiping out the vote of the French people.”

Following the shock result, Macron said that while he would respect the “choice of the French people”, he was waiting for the full picture to emerge before making any decisions.

His supporters have said that the election ended inconclusively. Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, said that “no one won”, and said that both RN and NPF “had lost”.

Le Pen, whose party was widely expected to win, has refused to admit defeat. She told reporters: “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and our victory has simply been deferred.”

Meanwhile, Bardella slammed the NFP as a “disgraceful alliance” that would destroy France.

Macron had called France's snap parliamentary vote in response to RN's victory in EU elections in June with over 30 per cent of the vote.