French elections: Thousands protest rise of far right

After partial election results were made public on Sunday evening, thousands of people came out to protest the far-right National Rally in a number of cities nationwide. In Paris, this woman held up a sign speaking out against a "hateful era" in France. The populist party emerged victorious in the first round of the parliamentary elections with 33% of the vote.

In the capital, thousands gathered on the Place de la Republique following a call by the left-wing alliance New Popular Front, which came in second place with 28% of the vote. Some protesters climbed the monument there, waving banners and setting off fireworks. Leading left-wing politicians also joined the protest.

The National Rally was the clear winner of the first round of voting, with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist camp slipping to third place at just under 21%. In the divided country, right-wing populists, led by Marine Le Pen (above), are fighting for power against left-wing parties and centrists like Macron.

Many French people have been deeply shocked by the National Rally's election victory. "I am not used to demonstrating," Najiya Khaldi, a 33-year-old teacher in Paris, told the Reuters news agency. Nevertheless, she came out so she wouldn't "feel alone" with her feelings of "disgust, sadness and fear."

In the western city of Nantes, many people marched against the shift to the right with banners expressing their resolve: "Ce qu'on n'aura pas par les urnes, on l'aura par la rue" ("What we don't get at the ballot box, we'll get on the streets") and "Manger 5 flics & Nazis par jour" ("Eat 5 cops and Nazis a day").

Some of the protest participants in Nantes wore masks and hoods. After the demonstration broke up, individual protesters clashed with police, firing off fireworks. Police responded with tear gas.

Rallies and protests also took place in Dijon, Lille and Marseille. According to media reports, there were also clashes between demonstrators and the police in Lyon, France's third largest city. Amid barricades, officers were pelted with bottles and fireworks. Some shop windows were also broken.

The exact distribution of the 577 seats in the National Assembly will not be decided until the runoff election on July 7. Demonstrators, like these people seen here, have pinned their hopes on the left-wing New Popular Front. But according to poll forecasters, the National Rally is likely to once again be the strongest force — although it could fall just short of an absolute majority.