Yahoo TV

STORY: French President Emmanuel Macron may find himself without a ruling majority during his second term and unable to push through his economic reform agenda with a free hand after the NUPES bloc did well in the first round of voting.

Pollsters predict Macron's camp will end up with the biggest number of seats, but say it is in no way guaranteed to reach the 289 threshold for an absolute majority.

Opinion polls also see the far right likely to score its biggest parliamentary success in decades, while the broad left-green alliance could become the largest opposition group and the conservatives find themselves as kingmakers.

Voting started at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), with initial projections expected at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).