French election results - live: Macron win sparks protests, Le Pen ‘won’t give up’

Social media footage shows police using teargas on demonstrators

Emmanuel Macron wins second term as French president after Marine Le Pen concedes defeat

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

Key Points

• Macron defeats rival Le Pen with almost 60% votes
• Exit polls point to Macron win
• Le Pen calls exit poll results ‘shining victory’ despite predicted loss
• Pollsters predict biggest abstention rate in decades
• Polls open in France as Macron takes on Le Pen
• Le Pen drawing on anger I haven’t quelled, Macron says

[25 April 2022 17:28 · Andy Gregory]

We’re pausing updates on the blog for this evening, thanks for following with us.

To read more of The Independent’s coverage of the French election, click here.

Or simply keep scrolling to catch up on the latest developments, as we reported them.

[24 April 2022 07:37 · Rory Sullivan]

Voting opens in France

Voting opened in France earlier this morning.

Will Emmanuel Macron become the first French president in two decades to be reelected? Or will Marine Le Pen become the first woman to hold the presidency?

The opinion polls suggest the incumbent president will see off his far-right rival. However, he has warned France not to take his victory for granted.

The warning comes as pollsters predict a record-high number of people will not vote.

[24 April 2022 08:11 · Rory Sullivan]

Candidates both have ‘huge weakness’, says pollster

The polls have now been open for just over two hours. They will close at 8pm local time (6pm GMT).

Speaking of the candidates, Bernard Sananes, who works for the pollster Elabe, said: “Each of them has a huge weakness.”

“Emmanuel Macron is considered arrogant by more than one in two voters and Marine Le Pen remains scary for half of them.”

[24 April 2022 08:40 · Rory Sullivan]

French election in photos

A ballot box in Lavau-sur-Loire, western France, on Sunday (AFP via Getty Images)

Nuns prepare to vote in Paris (REUTERS)

Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (C) disinfects his hands as he queues to vote (AFP via Getty Images)

[24 April 2022 09:12 · Rory Sullivan]

How France's old-school voting system works

For those wanting to know more about how France’s voting system works, here’s a useful explainer:

[24 April 2022 09:40 · Rory Sullivan]

Watch live: French polling opens as Le Pen takes on Macron

[24 April 2022 10:10 · Rory Sullivan]

When will the French election results be announced?

#icymi

Joe Sommerlad explains when we’re likely to hear the results of today’s vote:

[24 April 2022 10:40 · Rory Sullivan]

French voters head to the polls

People walk past election posters in Nantes, western France, on Sunday (AP)

The far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon casts his vote during the second round of France’s presidential election (AFP via Getty Images)

A man votes at a polling station in Montreuil, near Paris (AP)

[24 April 2022 11:09 · Rory Sullivan]

French politicians vote in run-off election

Like many other leading French politicians, the Socialist party’s presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo has tweeted from the ballot box this morning.

Here’s the Paris mayor’s post:

[24 April 2022 11:40 · Rory Sullivan]

A lesser evil: Young French struggle to back Macron despite worries over Le Pen

For many young people in France, the choice between voting for Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s presidential run-off is unpalatable.

“I feel like I can’t really give him my vote here, even just to block Le Pen,” one young French voter told The Independent, adding that she sees him as “condescending and arrogant”.

Read the rest of my report here: