French President-elect Emmanuel Macron's start-up party has announced a list of 428 candidates — most of them political unknowns — to fight parliamentary elections that will determine his chances of putting his program into action.

Key points: Opponents, relatives of victims of Islamic State attacks among the candidates

Opponents, relatives of victims of Islamic State attacks among the candidates A new poll predicts Mr Macron's party will get 29 per cent of vote

A new poll predicts Mr Macron's party will get 29 per cent of vote Mr Macron convincingly defeated Marine Le Pen in the presidential election

The partial list of candidates, many of them young and half of them women, represented Mr Macron's first stab at creating a parliamentary power base with his Republic on the Move party to help him push forward with reforms once in office.

Among them is Jean-Michel Fauvergue, the commander of the elite RAID police unit that took down the Islamic State cell that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks, including its ring leader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was killed in the operation.

Another is Claire Tassadit Houd, whose sister, Djamila, was among the 130 people killed in the attacks.

RAID chief Jean-Michel Fauvergue, who led the crackdown on IS following the 2015 Paris attacks, is among the candidates. ( Reuters: Benoit Tessier, file )

There is also a computer whizz who started working at age 16, a farmer, a primary school director whose family is known for its sparkling wine, and a journalist who covered conflict in Africa.

"Our candidates signal the permanent return of the citizen to the heart of our political life," said party secretary-general Richard Ferrand, underscoring the "boldness" of the venture for a movement created but 13 months ago.

Former bullfighter Marie Sara and famous mathematician Cedric Villani were also among the candidates, the BBC reported.

But the party has yet to pick dozens of other candidates for the 577 seats at stake in the June elections, hoping more politicians from other parties will switch sides.

Mr Ferrand said the remaining number of candidates were a matter for further discussion and that the party was leaving the door open to politicians of other political persuasions to come over to Mr Macron's side.

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"We want to leave them time until Wednesday to say so," he told a news conference.

"We want to build a majority for change and therefore obtain for Republic on the Move an absolute majority in the National Assembly," Mr Ferrand said, adding that they had combed through more than 19,000 applications.

Mr Ferrand said 52 per cent of the candidates had never held elected office before and that their average age was 46 years old.

Macron to take over presidency on Sunday

Francois Hollande will hand power to Emmanuel Macron this weekend. ( AP: Eric Feferberg )

To qualify, would-be candidates, including total newcomers to politics, filled extensive online applications with CVs and explanatory letters for pre-screening and follow-up interviews, according to local media interviews with some of them.

A Harris Interactive poll published on Thursday said Mr Macron's party would get 29 per cent of the votes, versus 20 per cent each for the conservative The Republicans and the far-right National Front.

Mr Macron's victory was seen across the world as a win for supporters of European Union integration over Ms Le Pen's anti-EU proposals, which included ditching the euro currency.

But he now needs to consolidate a win in which a good part of those who backed him in the playoff against Ms Le Pen came from political parties that voted to stop her rather than to put him in the driving seat for the next five years.

Socialist President Francois Hollande is due to formally hand over power on Sunday to Mr Macron at an Elysee Palace ceremony.

Sorry, this video has expired Supporters of Emmanuel Macron celebrate near the Louvre museum last weekend

Reuters/AP