After big election gains by a newly created left-wing alliance and the far right, French President Emmanuel Macron lost his legislative majority on Sunday, dealing a shocking blow to his aspirations for major second-term change.
The vote plunged French politics into disarray, raising the possibility of a paralysed legislative or tangled coalitions, forcing Macron to seek new friends.
According to a range of forecasts from five French polling firms after Sunday's second round, Macron's "Together" coalition was on track to be the largest party in the next National Assembly, but with 200-260 seats, it will fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority.
According to estimates, the new left-wing coalition NUPES, led by 70-year-old hard-left icon Jean-Luc Melenchon, was on track to capture 149-200 seats.
Socialists, the extreme left, Communists, and greens are all part of the alliance, which was created in May after the left divided ahead of the presidential elections in April.
The left had only 60 members in the previous parliament, which means they may more than increase their representation.
Marine Le Pen's National Rally party, which had only eight members in the last parliament, was also expected to make significant gains.
According to predictions, it would send 60-102 MPs to the new parliament.
Parliament speaker Richard Ferrand and former interior minister Christophe Castaner, both staunch Macron friends, admitted loss in the race for their seats.
Turnout was expected to be low, with polling institutes predicting a 53.5-54 percent abstention rate, up from the first round but still short of the 2017 record low turnout.