The first round of voting in local elections in France is seeing a strong showing for parties at both political extremes, though reports said Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party emerged as the biggest winner. 

The Radical Left party headed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon also made gains, while traditional centrist parties saw their hold on power weaken. 

The elections, which are for various mayorships and city and regional councilors, will now head to a second round on March 22 where the top two candidates will face off to determine the winner in all the races were no candidate topped 50 percent.

The vote was the first in France since snap parliamentary elections in 2024 that severely weakened the coalition of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron is term limited and cannot run again when his term concludes in early 2027 and the local vote is casting more doubt over who may lead the European Union’s second largest economy hen Macron is gone.