France's right-wing parties led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to have edged out the far-right National Front to take first place in the country's local elections.
A range of polling firms put a conservative alliance, including Sarkozy's opposition UMP, in the lead with between 29.7 and 32.5 per cent of Sunday's vote.
The results put a dampener on the recent run of victories for the anti-EU and anti-immigration National Front (FN) led by Marine Le Pen, which had dominated the airwaves during the campaign.
The FN topped opinion polls going into the vote and appeared to be capitalising on France's stagnant economy.
But the initial results showed it taking between 24.5 and 26.4 per cent in Sunday's elections for 101 "departments", which have power over local issues such as school and welfare budgets.
That still put it ahead of the ruling Socialist Party of President Francois Hollande, whose failure to address double-digit unemployment has seen him haemorrhage support since he took charge in 2012.
The Socialists took between 19.7 and 24 per cent, but a range of other left-wing parties took up to 7.7 per cent more, according to pollsters.
The mainstream parties will be able to call on smaller allies when voters return for run-off elections next Sunday, while the FN will struggle to find allies.
"There will be no local or national deal with the leaders of the FN," declared Sarkozy immediately after the initial figures were released.
The mainstream parties have closed ranks in recent weeks against the FN.
"Tonight, the far-right, even if it is too high, is not the leading political party in France," said Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
He called on voters to back either the left or right in next week's second-round run-offs to keep the far right from power.
Le Pen returned to a common theme of her campaign after the results were announced, saying the mainstream parties were conspiring in a campaign of "hate" against her party.
She remained bullish about the initial results, pointing to the fact they were higher than the party's victorious tally in last year's European polls.
"This massive vote for the National Front that is taking root in election after election shows that the French want to rediscover their freedom," she said.
"Send home those who have brought France to her knees, and bring a new political generation to power."
Despite weaker results on Sunday, the FN has still enjoyed a run of strong results in recent votes, coming first in the European elections last year and winning control of 11 town halls.
Le Pen is hoping this momentum will carry forward to a successful run at the presidency in 2017.
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