Le Pen: I have wiped out Macron

Marine Le Pen declared her party had “practically wiped out” Emmanuel Macron after winning the first round of voting in the French election. Ms Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) trounced Mr Macron’s ruling centrist alliance, exit polls last night showed, raising the prospect of an anti-immigration, anti-Brussels government in Paris. Mr Macron’s gamble to call a snap vote after a bruising defeat to Ms Le Pen’s party in the European election appears to have spectacularly backfired. The nationalist leader’s party was seen as winning around 34 per cent of the vote, while the Left-wing New Popular Front came second with around 29 per cent and Mr Macron’s Together coalition third with per cent, according to various polls. This morning France’s Interior Ministry released its percentages for the first round of voting. It said the RN and its allies reached 33 per cent of the national popular vote, while the leftwing New Popular Front came in second with 28 per cent. President Mac