French President Emmanuel Macron faced the prospect on Monday of having to seek support from parliamentary rivals in order to salvage his economic reform agenda, after voters punished his centrist alliance in a legislative election.
in a vote on Sunday that saw a leftwing alliance and the far-right perform strongly.
"Things are going to be complicated. We will try to bring others on board with us, especially to convince the few moderates in parliament to follow us," government spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire told France Inter radio. "Forget about this idea that there is some sort of imperative to choose between Emmanuel Macron and the extremists," Republicans secretary general Aurelien Pradie told franceinfo radio.Financial markets took the result largely in their stride, with little impact on the euro and stocks in early trading on Monday. French bond spreads saw some widening pressure.