With voter turnout at its highest rate in more than 40 years, this election results have led to a hung parliament, as no party managed to secure a majority.

The French parliament is composed of two chambers: the upper Senate and the lower National Assembly. The latter is the most important and has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, which is dominated by the conservatives. Due to the hung parliament, the split lower house will require lawmakers to agree on a legislative agenda across parties, which is especially challenging in France’s politics.

The NFP’s victory came as a relief to many who feared the rise of the far-right. In the first round, the National Rally led with 33% of the vote, raising concerns about its potential dominance. However, the second round saw a shift in favour of the leftist coalition.

What is the New Popular Front?

The New Popular Front (NFP) was formed on June 10, after Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary election.

The coalition consists of the largest radical left party, France Unbowed (LFI). Since 2016, LFI has been a populist party that believes traditional parties and political organisations no longer serve democracy.

The second is the Socialist Party (PS) a centre-left, social democratic, and pro-European party of François Mitterrand and François Hollande.

Among other parties, the French Green Party (LE-EELV) established 1984, and the French Communist Party (PCF), which is still fighting against capitalism, stands out the most too.

What’s next?

Since the coalition is made up of several parties it is unclear who they will choose to appoint as the new prime minister after the hung parliament.

The most favoured candidate by the party is Jean-Luc Melechon, a 72 year-old, long-time leader of the extreme left party, France Unbowed, the largest single party in the coalition, winning 74 seats on Sunday’s vote.

However, Macron’s party has repeatedly said that it will not let any extremists lead the French government.

The current prime minister, Gabriel Attal, announced his intention to resign but also his willingness to stay and keep stability. He supported Macron and said: “No absolute majority can be led by the extremes. We owe it to the French spirit, so deeply attached to the Republic and its values.”

Therefore, some consider that the more acceptable leader would be Raphaël Glucksmann, a moderate leader of Place Publique, however, nothing has been decided yet.

On the foreign policy front, the NFP promised to continue to supply arms to Kyiv and defend the freedom of the Ukrainian people. This can not be said of the National Rally party. Before the second round of the elections, Le Pen stated that a prime minister from her party would prevent any French weapons in Kyiv from striking Russia.