With two-thirds of the vote counted, polling agency estimates based on the results so far showed that Macron won about 28 percent and Lepen 23-24 percent of the votes in the first round, ahead of far-left candidate Jean Leakey. Melanson. with 20-21 percent. The result of Sunday’s vote shows that Le Pen, 53, is closer than ever to seizing power for the far right in France and mimicking the nationalist victories of Donald Trump in the US and Brexit supporters in the UK six years ago.

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Lepen is skeptical of the EU, has said she will leave NATO’s military command structure and has been a fan of Russian Vladimir Putin in the past. If it wins, it will shock Europe and the world as Russian forces wage war on European soil in Ukraine. Le Pen told supporters that the final vote in two weeks would be to decide the fate of “society, even culture” and that, if she won, she would restore “the country’s prosperity and greatness”. He said he planned to become president of “all the French”. While Lepen cited the need to tackle immigration and restore law and order, Macron told his supporters he was defending “progress and openness.” While he wanted to fight the Islamist “separatist”, he rejected xenophobia and the idea of ​​stopping Muslims and Jews from eating according to their religious strictures. “It’s not us,” he said. “Do not be mistaken. This competition is not over and the discussion we will have in the next two weeks will be decisive for our country and for Europe. . . “I want a France with its roots in a strong Europe.” Both Macron and Lepen immediately began chasing the votes of the losing candidates. Macron named and thanked each of the 10 candidates who failed to qualify for the first round and told his supporters to show them respect. Eric Zemour, the anti-immigration television warrior who briefly overshadowed Le Pen after entering the race last year, is projected to win 7 percent of the vote in the first round – and most supporters have told pollsters they will support Le Pen in the second round. Sunday’s results highlighted the collapse of support for the traditional parties of the left and right – the Socialists and the conservative Les Républicains, which provided all French presidents between 1958 and Macron’s victory in 2017 – and the rise of nationalists. limbs. Marin Lepen thanks her supporters after the predictions for the results of the first round. The final vote would be to decide the fate of “society, even culture”, said © Thomas Samson / AFP / Getty Images Conservative candidate Valérie Pécresse is expected to finish with just 5 percent of the vote in the first round. Yannick Jadot of the Greens also gets 5 percent and Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris and Socialist candidate, gets 2 percent. Both Macron and Lepen scored slightly better in the first round than in 2017, and voters seem to be lagging behind the top two candidates. Fighting her third presidential campaign, Le Pen has risen in opinion polls in recent weeks after focusing on rising cost of living at a time when gasoline, diesel and other commodity prices have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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He has said he will crack down on Islamists and immigration and ban women from wearing the veil in public on the grounds that it is an “Islamist uniform”. Liberal internationalist Macron – who has been embroiled in intense NATO, G7 and EU negotiations over sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine – has been slow to campaign and lose his lead in opinion polls as he tries to persuade voters that they had to give him a second five-year term at the Palais des Elysées.

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Join FT correspondents and guests for a Q&A on Monday, April 11 at 5 p.m. UK time on the outcome of the first round of voting in the French presidential election. Sign up for the free subscriber ticket Macron argued that Le Pen as president would pose a threat to France, the EU and the Western alliance, and criticized its protectionist economic program as incoherent and impossible to finance. His manifesto includes insisting on reforms and tax cuts to modernize the economy and attract foreign investment, while aiming for full employment. Elements and graphics by Steve Bernard, Oli Elliott and Martin Stabe