France election 2024 live: political deadlock looms after leftwing alliance wins most seats | France

Former president François Hollande has returned to parliament, elected in his old constituency of Corrèze under the banner of the leftwing NFP alliance with 43% of the vote.

The former Socialist beat the far-right candidate Maïtey Pouget as well as the outgoing rightwing Republicans MP Francis Dubois, who refused to withdraw from the race despite coming third in the first round.

Hollande, who left office in 2017 with record levels of unpopularity, surprised the country and his former party by announcing his candidacy three weeks ago.

He is hated by parts of the radical left and even the Socialist leadership regards him with suspicion. When he made his announcement one senior Socialist figure was quoted as saying that the party was “devastated” by the news.

Speaking after his election, Hollande said the result had “given us the satisfaction of having ensured that the far right is a minority in the National Assembly but also a huge responsibility towards the French people”.

President Emmanuel Macron can choose whoever he wants as the next prime minister according to the constitution, but in practice he needs to chose someone acceptable to parliament – usually the leader of the largest party.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), the biggest party in the leftwing NFP bloc, which has come out on top in the polls, says prime minister Gabriel Attal “has to go” and that the French left is “ready to govern”.

But it’s unclear who the alliance’s candidate to be prime minister would be, given that Mélenchon is a divisive figure even within his own party.

LFI lawmaker Clementine Autain called on the NFP alliance to gather on Monday to decide on a suitable candidate for prime minister.

The alliance, “in all its diversity”, needed “to decide on a balance point to be able to govern”, she said, AFP reported, adding neither former Socialist president François Hollande nor Mélenchon would do.

The leader of the Socialist Party (PS) Olivier Faure urged “democracy” within the leftwing alliance so they could work together.

“To move forward together we need democracy within our ranks,” he said.

“No outside remarks will come and impose themselves on us,” he said in a thinly veiled criticism of Mélenchon.

In Macron’s entourage, there was no indication of his next move.

“The question we’re going to have to ask ourselves tonight and in the coming days is: which coalition is capable of reaching the 289 seats to govern?”, one person close to him told Reuters.

Here are some of the headlines from the French and UK media:

The Guardian says “Surprise surge for left pushes French far right into third”

Le Figaro writes “The RN fails, the left imposes itself on Macron”

La Libération says “C’est OUF”, meaning “phew” or “madness”:

La Croix’s headline reads, “France says no to RN”:

The Times says “Hard-left leader claims victory in French election shock”:

The Financial Times says “France’s leftist alliance on track to halt rise of Le Pen’s RN, polls show”.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the parliamentary elections in France, where people are waking up to an uncertain political landscape after an election on Sunday that saw the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance win the most votes but without winning an absolute majority.

The result was a blow to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN), which had been predicted to win the most seats but came in third, as well as President Emmanuel Macron, whose centrist Together alliance lost about 80 seats and came in second place.

A hung parliament is unknown territory for France, which has no modern history of coalition governments. It also means Macron, who has three remaining years in office, will probably “cohabit” with a prime minister who does not share his political affiliations.

Prime minister Gabriel Attal has said he will offer his resignation on Monday but there is no obvious candidate to replace him; Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed, the largest party in the NFP, is a controversial figure disliked by even some within his own party.

If Macron attempts to appoint someone from within his own centrist alliance they will be seen as lacking in legitimacy. With no clear path forward the president will be weakened both at home and abroad.

The key developments:

• The leftwing NFP alliance became the biggest force in the French parliament but failed to win an outright majority in a surprise result that saw the far-right National Rally (RN) drop to third place. The NFP won 182 seats in the 577-seat parliament, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance won 163 seats and the RN won 143 seats.

• Prime minister Gabriel Attal said he would hand in his resignation to president Macron on Monday morning, but added that he could stay in place for the short term, if required, while a new government was formed. “Tonight, a new era begins,” he said, adding that France’s destiny would play out “more than ever in parliament”.

• The result means a hung parliament in a country not used to coalition government and which in modern times has always had a dominant party in parliament. Jockeying for the position of prime minister began immediately but there is no clear candidate.

• Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who intends to run for president in 2027, said the her party’s rise to power would continue. She said: “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and our victory has simply been deferred.”

• RN leader Jordan Bardella called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a “disgraceful alliance” that would paralyse France.

• Macron can choose who he wants as prime minister but many within his alliance have said they will not work with France Unbowed, the hard left party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon which is the largest in the NFP alliance. The president could ask a Socialist or Greens MP but they may not be willing. A centrist candidate could also be an unpopular choice as Macron’s alliance lost so many seats in the election.

• Mélenchon said Macron “must invite the New Popular Front to govern”. “The will of the people must be strictly respected,” he said.

• Raphael Glucksmann, from the Socialist party and part of the NFP, urged his alliance partners to act like “grown-ups”. “We’re ahead, but we’re in a divided parliament,” he said. “We’re going to have to talk, to discuss, to engage in dialogue.”