French President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique en Marche party is on course to win a large parliamentary majority after securing 32.3 per cent of the vote in the first round of parliamentary elections yesterday.
En Marche! and its centrist ally MoDem are on course to win up to 445 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly after next Sunday's second round, according to projections.
"Such a margin of victory in the 577-seat house would give Macron the majority he so badly craves to further his political revolution," CNN says.
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According to The Guardian, Macron "needs a solid parliamentary majority if he is to put in place his plans to loosen France's extensive labour laws and change the French welfare system on pensions and unemployment benefits".
The result is another blow for the two traditional French parties. The centre-right Republicans received slightly less than 16 per cent of the vote, while the Socialists, which was previously the ruling party, took 7.4 per cent and are projected to lose as many as 230 seats.
Former presidential hopeful Marine le Pen's far-right National Front finished on 13.2 per cent, while Jean Luc Melenchon's new hard-left party France Unbowed took a little more than 11 per cent.
"If the projections from the first round are sustained, then the change that is about to happen to the National Assembly is as big as the one that occurred in 1958 when Charles de Gaulle brought in the Fifth Republic," says the BBC.
Turnout was much lower than in previous years, down to 48.7 per cent from 57.2 per cent in 2012.
"Mr Macron's party was established just over a year ago and many candidates have little or no political experience," the BBC says.
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