French civil wars erupt after Marine Le Pen surges to victory in first parliamentary vote

The second round of voting is set to take place this Sunday, with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal urging people to vote tactically in order to keep RN out. However, it was far from clear RN could win the 289 seats required for a majority.

Le Pen said that "nothing has been won yet" but added the first-round victory showed that voters wanted to "turn the page" on Macron’s "scornful and corrosive" time as President.

In Paris, windows were smashed, rubbish was set alight and fireworks were launched as riot police clashed with protesters at the Place de la République.

Prime Minister Attal said: "Not a single vote must go to the National Rally. The stakes are clear, to prevent the National Rally from having an absolute majority." Socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo said: "The match is not over...We must mobilise all our forces."

Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron told a closed-door meeting of ministers at the Elysee Palace that the top priority was blocking the RN from power and that candidates from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party of Jean-Luc Melenchon could be endorsed if necessary to form a "republican front."

It would not be the first time the "republican front" tactic has been tried. In 2002 voters of all stripes rallied behind Jacques Chirac to defeat Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, in a presidential contest.

Earlier today, Le Pen repeated her assertion that the RN would not try to form a government if it and its allies did not have a workable majority in parliament.

She said: "We cannot agree to form a government if we cannot act. That would be the worst of betrayals of our voters."

Assuming no group has an outright majority after Sunday, politicians across the spectrum have proposed various ways of proceeding to see out the remainder of Macron's presidency.

Prime Minister Attal suggested mainstream right, left and centre parties could form ad hoc alliances to vote through individual pieces of legislation in the new parliament.

Xavier Bertrand, a senior member of the centre-right Republicans (LR) party, called on Tuesday for a "provisional government" to run France until the next presidential election.

However, both the RN and a prospective "republican front" could face issues with France's moderate voters.

While Le Pen has sought to rebrand RN as a mainstream right-wing party focused on immigration and pocketbook issues, it remains a pariah for many in France due to its past association with racism and antisemitism.

Meanwhile, moderate voters could face being forced to vote a Socialist standing as part of the hastily assembled leftist alliance.