The Socialist Party gained 7.6m votes in 2012 when he came to power, bolstered by the left-wing presidential majority in Parliament gaining 10.3m votes altogether in the first round (39.9 per cent of the vote).

This has crashed in the 2017 parliamentary election, with the Socialist Party securing just 1.7m votes (7.4 per cent), and the parliamentary left group reaching just 2.2m (9.5 per cent).

What happened in the first round?

Just like in the presidential elections, the French parliamentary elections take place over two rounds.

The first round is open to candidates from all parties with candidates being elected to parliament in this initial round only if they receive an absolute majority and the support of 25 per cent of the electorate - irrespective of turnout.

Turnout was less than 50 per cent in the first round and consequently only four candidates met this criteria for immediate election after last weekend's vote.

In the remaining 573 constituencies all candidates who gained the support of 12.5 per cent of the electorate or the two candidates with the most votes progressed to round two.