Summary

  • Emmanuel Macron defeats Marine Le Pen to win French presidency

  • He won over 66% of the vote

  • Macron set up his centrist En Marche movement only 13 months ago

  • He has promised to fight division and promote hope and reconciliation

  • Marine Le Pen hailed a "historic, massive result" for the far right

  • Turnout was around 74%, the lowest for a run-off in almost 50 years

Live Reporting

Laurence Peter and Tom Spender

  1. Emmanuel...you're on camera

    The public won't have seen quite an odd moment before Macron's speech, but we here at the BBC certainly did.

    His speech was being beamed in to us via the Reuters news agency. What Mr Macron did not know was that we also saw all the preparations he was making as he was about to make the speech of his life (public figures normally just appear and give their speech there and then).

    So we got to see him getting his make-up done:

    Macron getting makeup doneReuters

    You're on camera, Emmanuel...

    Then turning stiff and doing some sort of dance...

    Macron standing stiffReuters

    ...before rehearsing his lines, drinking some water, and making his first speech as president-elect of France. The whole thing lasted for about four minutes.

    Macron drinking waterReuters

  2. Macron: 'You put your trust in me'

    Here's a little more from Macron's speech:

    This is a new democratic landscape. Today you've agreed to put your trust in me and it's a great honour and responsibility, as nothing was written in stone. I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. I want to speak to all citizens now. No matter who you voted for, I do not hold anything against you. We need to deal with the economy and the moral weakness of the country.

    I want to address my opponent, Mme Le Pen. I know the divisions of our nations have pushed people to extremes and I know the anger and the doubt in our country. It's my duty to listen to this. It's about organising solidarity, fighting all forms of inequality and discrimination, ensuring unity and guaranteeing the security of the nation.

  3. Le Pen's niece castigates media

    "Marine did a lovely campaign on the ground but she was also victim of particularly unfair media coverage" - Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, niece of the defeated candidate and a leading light in the National Front. 

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  4. Macron: 'I know the rage you feel'

    Macron: 'I know the rage you feel'

    Emmanuel Macron says he knows the problems that have undermined France and pledges to protect the weakest and unify the country.  

  5. The far right's rise in figures

    Ellen Salvi is a journalist for French media group Mediapart. She's pulled together the scores of the National Front (FN) in the last four presidential elections. It's not an even picture, though. 

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  6. Tough test for Macron next month

    He will be fighting the parliamentary election with a brand new party.  

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  7. Front puts on a brave face

    "Bravo, Marine Le Pen, for her lovely campaign against the system which is a colossus with feet of clay. More than 11 million French people are with us" - says Steeve Briois, a close friend of Marine Le Pen as well as mayor of her northern stronghold of Hénin-Beaumont.

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  8. Paris police mean business

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  9. Do they laugh at Macron now?

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  10. Macron sends message of hope

    In his first statement as president-elect, Emmanuel Macron was very solemn, but his message was one of hope and reconciliation. While acknowledging "the anger, the anxiety and doubts" of French people, he vowed to "overcome every obstacle" to "build a better future" and "fight divisions" in the country. 

    "A new page in our history is being turned. I want it to be one of hope and confidence recovered."

  11. Trump congratulates Macron
    Breaking

    By Twitter, of course.

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  12. Macron: 'A great honour'

    Macron: 'An honour and a great responsibility'

    Emmanuel Macron gives his first speech after winning the election. He begins by saying the result is a "great honour, but also a great responsibility".  

  13. Far-left leader fiercely criticises Le Pen and Hollande

    Jean-Luc Mélenchon won almost a fifth of the vote in the first round, and he hasn't pulled his punches, with a message savaging both Marine Le Pen and the outgoing president, François Hollande.

    France has rejected the extreme right as a "foreign entity in our country", and has brought to an end "the most lamentable presidency of the Fifth Republic".

  14. Blowing horns for Macron

    Motorists joining in the jubilation near the Louvre. 

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  15. 'Sober and serious'

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  16. Anger in Paris

    Another journalist, Clara Losi, tweeted this photo of the clashes in Paris. She says protesters hurled smoke bombs first.    

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  17. Macron raises issue of climate change

    Twice in his speech, the president-elect has acknowledged the risks facing France by climate change and ecological dangers. 

  18. 'Confined to a bar as tear gas goes off'

    French journalist Carlier Remi reports from the scene of the unrest in Paris. 

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  19. Tear gas fired in Paris

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  20. Macron promises reconciliation

    "I will fight with all my strength against the divisions that separate us," says the next president of France.