French Socialists take lead in parliamentary vote: exit poll

French President Francois Hollande’s Socialists and allies were headed for an absolute majority to push through tax-and-spend reforms after a first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday, exit polls said. The election also saw a surge in support for Marine Le Pen’s National Front, which wants to ditch the euro and battles against what it believes the “Islamisation” of France. It won almost 14 percent of votes, according to the exit polls. The Socialist Party and its Green allies were set to win a total of around 40 percent of votes, according to the CSA polling institute, versus 35 percent for former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party. The Communist-backed Left Front headed by firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon was on course to win seven percent of votes, CSA said, with turnout nationwide at around 60 percent. TNS Sofres, Ipsos and OpinonWay pollsters all agreed that the political left, including the Left Front, would win at least 289 seats in the 577-seat Assembly and possibly as many
as 368 seats.