Watch the moment French prime minister Gabriel Attal casts his vote in a pivotal runoff election.
The result could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock.
Should the nationalist, eurosceptic RN secure a majority, it would usher in France’s first far-right government since World War Two and send shockwaves through the European Union at a time populist parties are strengthening support across the continent.
A hung parliament, meanwhile, would severely dent president Emmanuel Macron’s authority and herald a prolonged period of instability.