French election results - live: Macron win sparks protests, Le Pen ‘won’t give up’
Social media footage shows police using teargas on demonstrators
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Your support makes all the difference.Bitter demonstrations have broken out after Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as president of France on Sunday night.
Police charged and fired teargas at protesters, who took to the streets of Paris, Lyon, Montpellier and Toulouse to protest Mr Macron’s victory, which came despite a rise in popularity for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Footage on social media showed protesters in Montpellier chanting “Ni Marine, Ni Macron,” meaning “neither Marine, nor Macron,” while bins were set aflame in Toulouse.
In Paris, at Place de la République, protesters could be heard comparing Macron to the last King of France, King Louis XVI.
They could be heard saying, in French: “Louis Sixteenth, Louis Sixteenth, we beheaded him, Macron, Macron, we can start again”.
Meanwhile, Ms Le Pen’s 41.5 per cent of the vote signals growing popularity for France’s far-right movement, a result not lost on Ms Le Pen.
“In this defeat, I can’t help but feel a form of hope,” she said. “I will never abandon the French.”
Follow live updates on the French election below
Voter turnout now down from first round
Voter turnout was at 63 per cent as of 5pm French time:
This is now down from the first round, when turnout was 65 per cent at the same time.
Turnout also lower than previous election
This turnout rate is also below the 65.3 per cent recorded at the same time in the 2017 election.
Pollsters predict biggest abstention rate in decades
Pollsters are predicting the highest abstention level in over 50 years in today’s vote between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
France‘s main polling institutes Ipsos and Ifop said on Sunday they saw the likely abstention rate at the end of the day at 28 per cent.
They increased their estimate after the turnout rate as of 5pm was released.
If their prediction turns out to be true, it would top the quarter of voters who abstained in 2017 in what was the lowest turnout ever recorded in a French presidential election final since 1969.
Analysts say a low turnout adds to uncertainty surrounding the final result.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Voters in London believe election could bring ‘big change'
French voters in the UK on both sides of the political spectrum have said they believe the presidential election could bring a “big change” to the nation in the form of a shift to the right.
Reports from the polls in London:
French voters at UK polls believe ‘big change’ coming in nation’s politics
Voters in London said they believed that far-right politician Marine Le Pen would have greater influence even if she lost the race to be president.
Here is what some voters are saying...
Macron
Stephanie David - who voted for the Communist candidate in the first round - cast her ballot for Mr Macron “without much joy” in a Paris suburb today. “It was the least worst choice,” she said.
In Douai, a town in northern France, 69-year-old pensioner Andrea Loeuillet said she had voted for Mr Macron, as she did in the first round.
“He has his faults but he has qualities too. He is the one best placed to continue, we are living through difficult times,” she said.
Le Pen
In Souille in northwestern France, 56-year-old civil servant Pascal Pauloin said he had voted for Ms Le Pen out of disenchantment with Macron.
“I am very disappointed. Our France has not been working well for years. Macron has done nothing for the middle classes, and the gap with the rich is getting ever wider,” he said.
Neither
Jean-Pierre Roux voted to keep out Marine Le Pen in 2017. But the retiree said he could not bring himself to vote for Mr Macron, who he considered too arrogant. “I am not against his ideas but I cannot stand the person,” he said.
Mr Roux put an empty envelope in the voting box.
Hugo Winter, a 26-year-old salesman in Paris, said he would not cast a vote today.
“I don’t see the point in choosing between two things that don’t correspond to my ideas,” he said. “We live in a parallel world. The politicians don’t represent the people.”
Who are the two candidates?
French voters are not only choosing between two visions of France, but also two very different people.
Take a closer look at the two candidates here:
France's presidential rivals: Key moments, private lives
Voters are choosing between two visions of France and two very different people in Sunday's presidential runoff
Images of election
Here are some more photos of the election from France itself and elsewhere:
Not long until the first exit polls now. We are expecting them to come through anytime after 8pm French time (7pm BST).
Exit polls point to Macron win
The first exit polls are predicting 58.2 per cent for Emmanuel Macron.
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