The far-right National Front (FN) party fell back sharply in the first round of France's parliamentary elections today, according to early computer estimates.
The party of Jean-Marie Le Pen won only around 11.5 per cent of the vote - a drop of more than five points from his score in the first round of the presidential elections in April.
With the score of the smaller National Republican Movement included, the far-right won around 13 per cent of the vote. At the last parliamentary election in 1997 the far-right made 14.94 per cent in the first round.
However estimates said the FN could still win up to two seats in the National Assembly. In 1997 the party won one seat, which it subsequently lost on judicial appeal.
In an immediate response on television, Le Pen denounced what he called the "anti-democratic" French electoral system under which his party would win two seats at the most - substantially less than its proportional share of the vote.
AFP