National Front (FN)

 French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has been largely out of the spotlight since stinging electoral defeats, on Saturday sought to reclaim the mantle of main opponent to President Emmanuel Macron, which polls now attribute to the far-left, reported Reuters. 

Marine Le Pen should step down as leader of France's far-right National Front (FN) after disappointing results in the presidential and parliamentary elections, her father who founded the anti-establishment party said on June 20.

French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party swept to a large majority in parliamentary elections on June 18, although it fell short of a predicted landslide.

Polling stations have opened in France for the second round of parliamentary elections.

Macron’s Republic on the Move party, known as En Marche! (LREM) and its centrist allies secured 32 percent of the vote in the first round last week and are tipped to gain between 440 and 470 seats in the National Assembly’s 577-seat chamber – more than the 289 necessary for an absolute majority.

Emmanuel Macron be inaugurated today and will be taking over from François Hollande, who’s been in office since 2012.

French centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe on May 3 in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country. The duel ahead of May 7's election was billed as a confrontation between Macron's call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen's France-first nationalism.

French centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe on May 3 in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country. The duel ahead of May 7's election was billed as a confrontation between Macron's call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen's France-first nationalism.

Emmanuel Macron told striking factory workers that he can do nothing to save their jobs from cheap foreign labour when he paid them a last-minute visit on Wednesday.

Macron, who is pro-globalisation, had not been scheduled to speak with Whirlpool staff in his hometown of Amiens, but was forced to make a detour after Marine Le Pen went to see them earlier in the day.

Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has announced that she is stepping aside as leader of her National Front (FN) party, BBC reported.

The move comes just a day after she reached the second round of the French election, where she will face centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Ms Le Pen told French TV she needed to be above partisan considerations.

Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron and anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen began a final duel for the French Presidency on April 24, after a first round of voting delivered a stunning blow to the traditional political class.