Confused picture as projections come in
Exit polls have just been made available and they all give different numbers - to the point we cannot confidently say which party has come out on top.France Télévisions gives the National Rally between 120 and 160 seats - if that's correct then this is a surprise defeat for the RN, which would have come third.
Two other polls, including France's biggest private channel TF1 and from RTL/M6 suggest RN has come second. One other projection gives RN the biggest number of seats, but that may be an outlier.
However, what is clear is that France is heading for a hung parliament with no single bloc controlling a majority. The picture will become clearer in the next few hours as actual results come trickling in - we will bring you those as we get them.
Far right's historic moment may have to wait
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the two big faces of the National Rally, were hoping for a dramatic and historic victory.
The projections we've just had from the big French broadcasters all suggests not only that their hopes have been dashed.
They all indicate that the left-wing New Popular Front, cobbled together hastily after President Macron called this election, may actually have won the race.
It wouldn't mean they could form any kind of government, because a hung parliament would be the result.
But if the radical-left France Unbowed and their allies in the Greens, Socialists and Communists really have won, it's a big dent in the expectations of the far right.
Mélenchon: 'The president has to admit defeat'
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the radical left France Unbowed party, the largest in the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP), has been addressing his supporters, claiming victory for his bloc.He says: "The far right is far from a majority tonight... The election result is the outcome of a magnificent mobilisation effort."
"The president has to bow and admit this is a defeat... the prime minister needs to leave," he says.
The president has the power and the duty to call the NFP to govern," he adds to applause.
"The NFP is ready," he adds.
Macron asks French PM to stay in role for now to 'ensure stability' after election
The French president asks Gabriel Attal to stay on as prime minister for the moment after he submitted his resignation.
www.bbc.co.uk
