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| France elections: Macron-Le Pen through to run-off, projections say | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen have won the first round of voting in French presidential elections, projected results say. | The centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen have won the first round of voting in French presidential elections, projected results say. |
| Mr Macron won 23.7%, while Ms Le Pen won 21.7%, French TV says. | |
| The two saw off a strong challenge from centre-right François Fillon and the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, according to the projections. | |
| The pair now face a run-off vote on 7 May. | The pair now face a run-off vote on 7 May. |
| Whoever wins the next round, the voting marks a shift away from the leftist and centre-right parties that have long dominated French politics. | |
| Ms Le Pen leads the eurosceptic, anti-immigrant National Front party. She has attempted to soften the party's tone and brought big gains in the 2015 regional elections. | |
| Mr Macron served as economy minister under current President Francois Hollande. Despite his relative inexperience - he has never served as an MP - polls see him defeating Ms Le Pen in the second round. | |
| He is also likely to attract support from the political establishment - soon after polls closed Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve urged all democrats to vote for him, Reuters news agency reports. | |
| In other projections: | |
| Turnout nationally appears to be similar to the last election in 2012. | |
| Nearly 60,000 police and soldiers were deployed across the country to secure polling, with France still reeling from the shooting of a policeman on the Champs Elysees. |