French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party has claimed a sweeping victory in the first round of elections to the National Assembly, despite a historically low turn-out.
Macron's La Republique en Marche (The Republic on the Move, LREM) and its allies took 32.3 per cent of the vote, official figures released early on Monday show.
Polling firms Kantar Public-onepoint predicted that LREM and its centrist allies would take 400 to 440 of the assembly's 577 seats after next Sunday's second round of run-off votes.
That result would enable Macron to win approval for his government line-up and push his liberalising program through parliament despite expected opposition from the left.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said that despite an abstention rate estimated at just over 50 per cent, "the message of the French people is unambiguous."
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"For the third time in a row, millions of you have confirmed your support for the president of the republic's policy of renewal, unity and reconquest," Philippe said in a televised statement.
The vote comes just over a month after 39-year-old Macron became the youngest-ever president of France, beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen by 66 per cent to 34 per cent in a run-off vote.
Le Pen's party took a disappointing 13.2 per cent, well below her 21.3 per cent of the presidential first round vote.
The centre-right Les Republicains and allies are likely to form the main opposition bloc, with 21.6 per cent of the vote going to the broad centre-right.
