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
Le Pen: We are the main opposition
Marine Le Pen tells supporters that her party, the National Front, is now the main opposition force in France.
Those parties that supported Emmanuel Macron can no longer be considered a credible opposition, she says.
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Image source, AFP/Getty ImagesSoon-to-be French President Emmanuel Macron told AFP: "A new page in our history is turning tonight", one he wishes to be "the one of hope and rebound trust".
Outgoing Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has put out a statement, saying "voters have today rejected the extreme right's dismal project, and shown their unmovable commitment to the values of the Republic".
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Defeated candidate Marine Le Pen claims a "historic, massive result" for her far-right National Front (FN), and says she will lead the party into June's legislative elections.
French nurse Franck Mutin told us earlier how the vote works when he cast his ballot in Dordives and says he voted for Macron: "I voted for him to block the National Front but I don't share his ideas at all. I will vote for Jean-Luc Mélenchon at the parliamentary elections [11-18 June].
"The result of the first round clearly shows a France cut in two: the France of the well-to-do which votes Macron and the working-class France which votes Le Pen. It's hard to predict the future. I fear for our health system, which used to be the glory of France."
The FN leader is now turning her focus on next month's National Assembly election, says Christophe Bauer from the France 24 TV channel.
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Le Pen: France has chosen continuity candidate
Defeated National Front leader Marine Le Pen told supporters that the country had chosen the "continuity candidate" in centrist Emmanuel Macron and wished her rival well.
The BBC's Nuala McGovern is in Bordeaux with an official from Macron's party. She sent us this on WhatsApp:
Emmanuel Macron is pro-EU, but what has he said about Brexit? And will a pro-EU head of state harden the stance of EU negotiators towards the UK?
He has already met Theresa May in London and speaks fluent English.
In his programme pledges to “defend the integrity of the European single market”. “All companies that have access to it must be subject to the same rules,” he says.
And he sees an opportunity for France to attract talent from the UK: “I want banks, talents, researchers, academics and so on,” he said.
Hugh Schofield
BBC News, Paris
The thing about Emmanuel Macron is that, in the end, everyone gives way to the charm.
See him on campaign last week: he was talking to hardline CGT union members at a soon-to-close factory in the north. These guys hate everything he stands for. Their jobs are going to Poland.
And yet they weren't baying for his blood, they were listening.
A day later he could be talking to a symposium of stuffed-shirt bosses; or a raucous crowd of banlieue teenagers; or some funky young start-up types. And they would all be listening with the same intent.
As someone said in a recent documentary on France's new president: "The guy could seduce an office chair."
UK Prime Minister Theresa May "warmly" congratulates Emmanuel Macron, her office says.
Figaro journalist William Plummer was at the scene at the Louvre.
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Florian Philippot, Marine Le Pen's right-hand man, tells TF1 TV: "We had 11 million voters, an unprecedented score... Today we're the main opposition force in France."
Image source, ReutersAmong the five reasons the BBC's Becky Branford concludes in this piece is that Macron tried something very different for French politics... and also just got lucky.
"This says something great: in choosing the youngest president of the Republic, France is sending a message of hope to the world," veteran centrist François Bayrou, who backed Macron early on in the race.
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Image source, ReutersMarine Le Pen called Macron to "wish him success". She tells supporters the new divide in France is between "globalists and patriots" .
Image source, ReutersThe new president and his defeated rival have just had a "brief" and "cordial" exchange on the telephone, AFP news agency reports
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