French elections: Historic first round victory for National Rally party

Marine Le Pen won a historic victory in the first round of the French elections

At the beginning of June, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, called a snap election after his party suffered a big loss at the EU elections.

The French parliamentary elections consist of two rounds, the first of which was on 30 June.

This first round has left France's National Rally party, who are Macron's biggest political rivals, in the top position.

Many people are predicting National Rally could win more seats than it has in decades.

What now?

A voter casts her vote in the ballot box for the first round of the general elections at a polling station

Despite being top, predictions for next Sunday's second round of votes suggest that no party will receive enough votes to win a majority.

And France may be left with a hung parliament.

That's when no political party wins by enough seats to take the overall lead.

The next round of the election takes place on 7 July.

How will the second round work?

If no party manages to win 289 seats, the French could be left with a hung parliament

The second round of the elections might not end with one party winning enough seats to have a majority.

There are 577 seats in the National Assembly, and for a majority, a party needs to win 289.

If no party manages to win 289 seats, the French could be left with a hung parliament- that's when no-one has overall control.

This could lead to political uncertainty in the country.