Macron refuses resignation of country's prime minister after election chaos

The French are in political limbo after a shock result saw no party win an outright majority in the elections, as our Europe Editor James Mates reports

French President Emmanuel Macron has refused the resignation of the country’s prime minister, asking him to remain temporarily as the head of the government after chaotic election results left the government in limbo.

French voters delivered a shock result in the country’s parliamentary elections, handing a coalition of leftist parties the most seats but no majority, while leaving a hung parliament and potential political deadlock.

According to Monday's morning's final results, the leftist alliance - called the New Popular Front (NFP) - took 182 seats, French President Emmanuel Macron's centrists won 163 seats, while Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally, got 143 seats.

The result overturned predictions that the far-right, which had led in the first round of voting, were within reach of an outright majority.

As a result, all three main blocs are short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had said he would remain in office if needed but offered his resignation on Monday morning.

Macron, who named him just seven months ago, immediately asked him to stay on “to ensure the stability of the country.”

No clear figure has emerged as a possible future prime minister.

Macron says he will wait to decide his next steps, as he heads to Washington this week for a Nato summit.

The new legislators can start work in Parliament on Monday, and their first new session starts on Thursday, July 18.

A redrawn political map

President Macron called the election on June 9, to provide what he called "clarification" following a far-right surge in French voting for the European Parliament.

The decision galvanised parties on the left to put differences aside and join together in a new alliance, embark on a costly programme of public spending and, in foreign policy, take a far tougher line against Israel because of the war with proscribed terror group Hamas.

President Macron described the left's coalition as "extreme" and warned that its economic programme could be ruinous for France, already criticised by EU watchdogs for its debt.

Yet, as projections and ballot-counting showed the NFP with the most seats, its leaders immediately pushed President Macron to give the alliance the first chance to form a government and propose a prime minister to share power with the president.

The most prominent of the leftist coalition's leaders, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said he "is ready to govern".

President Macron has said he would not work with Mr Mélenchon's hard-left France Unbowed party, but he could possibly stretch out a hand to the Socialists and the Greens. They may refuse to take it, however.

There is no firm timeline for when President Macron must name a prime minister and no rule that he has to name a prime minister from the largest party in parliament.

To add even more complication to the issue, while President Macron's party and the far-right had their nominees for prime minister in place, the NFP does not.

On Monday, the leader of the socialist party said the group would decide a nominee by the end of the week.

Although the National Rally fell far short of its hopes of securing an absolute majority - which would have given France its first far-right government since the Second World War - the anti-immigration party has taken more seats than ever in the National Assembly.

Many voters decided that keeping the far right from power was more important to them than anything else, backing its opponents in the second round, even if they weren't from the political camp they usually support.

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, thought to be eyeing what would be her fourth run for the French presidency in 2027, said the elections laid the groundwork for "the victory of tomorrow".

"The tide is rising," she said. "It did not rise high enough this time."

She added: "The reality is that our victory is only deferred."

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