Protesters clash with riot cops in Paris as France’s far-right on brink of power after election win

FRANCE’S far-right party could be on the brink of power after winning the first round of a snap parliamentary election. Hundreds of left-wing protesters flooded the streets and clashed with cops in Paris as they set off fireworks and flares. Incumbent president Emmanuel Macron’s party and their allies have been left dragging behind in the polls as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally scooped the first round of legislative elections on Sunday. Le Pen crowed that Macron’s alliance was “almost wiped out“ during the first of two rounds. Her party reached 33 per cent of the vote, while the left-wing New Popular Front came in second with 28 per cent. Macron’s centrist bloc trailed behind with just 20 per cent, the interior ministry said. France’s incumbent Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the far right sit at the “gates of power“. He then called on voters to mobilise against them in the second round of voting on July 7. T