Political paralysis looms in France after shock election result

An alliance of leftwing parties surprised pollsters by coming first, though it fell well short of an absolute majority. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA

For more than 50 years, whenever France held a parliamentary election, voters would know the next morning which party would be in government and with what political agenda.

This time it is different. After Emmanuel Macron called a surprise snap election, and after the shortest campaign in modern history, French people delivered a spectacular rush of tactical voting to hold back a surge of far-right support. The resulting political landscape is divided and the outcome is complicated. Macron will take time to let the dust settle, his entourage has said.