France elections: Macron and Le Pen will face for Presidency on 7 May

Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old former banker who quit the Socialists for a remarkable tilt for France's presidency, has won the country's first-round vote, finishing just ahead of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. The French Interior Ministry's final figures for the vote showed Macron winning 23.75 per cent of the vote, with Le Pen on 21.5.

Francois Fillon for the Republicans, the party of the Gaullist establishment, came third with 19.9 per cent of the vote, just ahead of far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon with 19.6 per cent.

Macron is predicted to beat Le Pen far more comfortably in the second round of voting on May 7, by gathering the lion's share of voters from the eliminated candidates. He has never stood for election before and if he wins would become France's youngest-ever president. A pro-European, he has called for gradual deregulation of France's economy and a multi-billion dollar public investment plan.

The absence of either of the country's major parties – the Republicans and the ruling Socialists – in next month's run-off vote has shocked the political establishment.

Macron said the vote had "changed the face of this country [and] opened the door to optimism, a new path for hope for Europe and for the world".

"We heard the doubt, the anger, the fear of the people of France – they wanted change so badly. That's why tonight the two major parties who have governed France for three decade have been discarded."

The result is a new high-water mark for Le Pen's National Front. The last time the National Front made the second round, in 2002, Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, won just under 17 per cent of the first round vote. He was crushed in the second round by Jacques Chirac, but his daughter is expected to do significantly better.

At the last election, in 2012, Marine Le Pen won 18 per cent of the first round vote, and did not make the second round. As the results came in, Ms Le Pen called herself "the candidate for the people", saying that the "survival of France" was at stake. "The first step… has been taken," she said. "This result is historic."

The massacre of François Fillon – who spent a large part of the French presidential campaign beleaguered by scandal – is well underway. It is the first time since 1958 that France’s main rightwing party has failed to make it to the second round.

Both Germany and the EU also offered praise for Mr Macron. Turnout nationally appears to be similar to the last election in 2012, at about 80%. Almost 47 million people were eligible to vote.
Nearly 60,000 police and soldiers were deployed across the country to secure polling, with France still reeling from the shooting of a policeman on the Champs Elysees.