France plunged into carnage as riots erupt across country following surprise election outcome

Following the surprising exit poll, tens of thousands of left-wing supporters gathered in Paris’ Place de la Republique to celebrate the victory of the alliance in the snap election.

Demonstrators have set fireworks alight, lit flares and some even climbed the statue of France’s beloved Marianne, which is the French Republic's symbolic personification of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Riot police were soon deployed to the scene, as well as members of the fire brigade to extinguish flames from objects, including bicycles, that were set on fire.

According to some reports, tear gas was fired into the crowds in an attempt to subdue them, however, the demonstrators, which mainly consist of young people, have remained jubilant and continued to chant: “Young people screw the National Front.”

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said that some 30,000 riot police - including 5,000 in Paris - have been deployed to “ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem”.

Elsewhere, in Nantes, Western France, thousands of people have also taken to the streets to celebrate the result - tear gas has also been deployed to try and disperse the crowds.

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Additional outbreaks of unrest have also been reported in Lyon, Marseilles, and Nice.

The projections are based on the actual vote count in certain constituencies of the 577-seat French assembly, which puts President Emmanuel Macron's Together centrist alliance in second and Le Pen's National Rally in third. Final results are expected to be released late Sunday or early Monday.

Whilst the NFP leads in the exit polls, it does not have enough seats for a majority, standing between 172-215 MPs based on the projections of four major polling firms. Macron's centrist alliance is predicted between 150-180 seats, whilst National Rally is on 115-155.

Le Pen, co-leader of the National Rally along with Jordan Bardella, 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.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said he will offer his resignation today but serve "as long as duty demands" - Paris will host the Olympics in just weeks.

Macron has yet to speak on the predictions, however, the AFP news agency is reporting that one of his aides says he wants "prudence and analysis of the results" before he comments publicly.

A statement said: "The President, as guarantor of our institutions, will respect the choice of the French people."