very warm welcome to bbc news. we are coming to life paris today. polls are open in france as people across the country cast their ballots in the second round of parliamentary elections. earlier president macron cast his vote in le touquet. the opponents, horrified by the idea of a faris government are trying desperately to try dicke stop it. often uniting with candidates to black forest majority. turnout so far has been significantly higher than in the second round of the last election in 2022, according to the interior ministry. it s the highest since 1981. final opinion polls suggest marine le pen s far right national rally will secure the most votes , but it s thought it s unlikely to win an outright majority in the national assembly. such an outcome could plunge the country into a chaotic hung parliament, severely denting the authority of president macron. the anti immigration national rally scored historic gains in last sunday s first round vote, giving le pen and the p
final opinion polls suggest marine le pen s far right national rally will secure the most votes, but it s thought it s unlikely to win an outright majority in the national assembly. such an outcome could plunge the country into a chaotic hung parliament, severely denting the authority of president emmanuel macron. the anti immigration national rally scored historic gains in last sunday s first round vote, giving le pen and the party s leaderjordan bardella their first realistic chance of running the government and taking control of the national assembly. however, after hundreds of rival candidates from centrist and leftist parties dropped out to give their allies a better chance of defeating the far right, le pen s hopes of winning an absolute majority seem less certain. mark lowen reports. rarely have france s fraternal founding values felt so strained. but in this polarised, angry country, they voted in the most crucial parliamentary election in decades. the far right natio
highest in over a0 years. final opinion polls suggest marine le pen s far right national rally will secure the most votes, but it s thought it s unlikely to win an outright majority in the national assembly. such an outcome could plunge the country into a chaotic hung parliament, severely denting the authority of president emmanuel macron. the anti immigration national rally scored historic gains in last sunday s first round vote, giving le pen and the party s 28 year old leaderjordan bardella their first realistic chance of running the government and taking control of the national assembly. however, after hundreds of rival candidates from centrist and leftist parties dropped out to give their allies a better chance of defeating the far right, le pen s hopes of winning an absolute majority seem less certain. mark lowen reports. rarely have france s fraternal founding values felt so strained. but in this polarised, angry country, they voted in the most crucial parliamentary el
a very warm welcome to paris. it is a beautiful evening here in the french capital. you might be able to see behind me the eiffel tower. before that, like defence. and they golden dome where you can visit the tomb of napoleon bonaparte. it has been a rather odd feeling, actually, in the city this afternoon. in some respects, there is a party atmosphere building. you can see all of these dance going up for the olympics with just three weeks to go until the paris olympics. just at the foot of the eiffel tower, you can see them putting the final touches to the beach volleyball courts. and the countries in the semifinal of the euros. the party atmosphere in one senses building, but on the other hand this country are so deeply divided, and no sense from the final post last night that the election here is going to resolve the things for them any time soon. not that they are and enthused by the election. voter turnout today is at the highest in the national assembly, of any national
first one is, yes, to understand that the national rally will not lead france. jordan will not become president tomorrow. margaret jordan bardella will not become president tomorrow. but it is double the number of mps they will have. there are people down on the balconies that are applauding, beating their horns. is there celebration in the streets here amongst some. obviously paris is a little bit different to the rural communities around france. given that the republican front that has been put in place to stop it getting power. been put in place to stop it getting ower, ., , , been put in place to stop it getting ower. ., , , ,., been put in place to stop it getting ower. ., , , y., ., power. probably you had in mind when ou looked power. probably you had in mind when you looked at power. probably you had in mind when you looked at the power. probably you had in mind when you looked at the polls power. probably you had in mind when you looked at the polls that p