Macron beats Le Pen in French presidential election

Emmanuel Macron crushed his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French presidential election, with almost all votes counted.

The divisive election to choose the next president has turned the country’s politics upside down, with neither of the two mainstream centre-right and centre-left parties that have governed France since the Second World War making it to the runoff.

Independent centrist Mr Macron topped 66 per cent of the vote with the interior ministry having counted 99 per cent of the country's 47 million registered votes counted. He has become the youngest president of the Fifth Republic at the age of 39. 

A record 11.5 per cent of votes cast were either blank or spoiled, while a near-record total of 25.38 per cent of the registered voters abstained, the official figures showed.

The first projections from polling agencies had suggested Mr Macron would beat Ms Le Pen - who temporarily stepped down as leader of her Front National (FN) party ahead of the final round of voting  - by about 65 per cent to 35 per cent. 

Mr Macron was out-going President Francois Hollande’s former Finance Minister,  before quitting to found his own centre-left En Marche! movement and run for president himself.

He had enjoyed growing support from voters and gained high-profile backers, including the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Outgoing President François Hollande congratulated Mr Macron and said the result showed the French people wanted to unite around the "values of the republic".

Ms Le Pen called her opponent to wish him success in dealing with the "challenges" facing the country, following the early results.

She claimed the vote was a “historic, massive result” for the French far-right, telling supporters that the FN "must renew itself to live up to this historic opportunity and the expectation of French people."

In a campaign that has seen favourites drop out of the race one after the other, Ms Le Pen, who wanted to clamp down on immigration and take France out of the European Union, came closer to elected power than any far right candidate has been in Western Europe since the 1930s. Ms Le Pen picked up a record 7.6 million votes in the first round of the election. This is the strongest ever result for a  far-right candidate and 2.8 million more than her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, got when he made it through the first round of the presidential election in 2002.

SUMMARY:

• Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, 39, who was unknown three years ago ago, has become France’s youngest-ever president after an estimated 65% to 35% victory in the second round run-off against Front National’s right-wing leader Marine Le Pen.
• The resounding win has been hailed by his supporters as holding back a tide of populism after the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory in the US election.
• In Macron's fairly subdued victory speech  the political outsider vowed to unite a divided and fractured France, saying the world was watching and “waiting for us to defend the spirit of the Enlightenment, threatened in so many places”.
• Despite her loss, Le Pen’s score marked a historical high point for the French right. In a defiant concession speech, Le Pen said she was leader of “the biggest opposition force” in France and vowed to radically overhaul her party.
• Turnout for the vote was the lowest in 40 years.
• Macron now faces the challenges of trying to win a parliamentary majority for his fledgling political movement En Marche! in legislative elections next month. Without a majority, he will not be able to carry out his manifesto promises.
• World leaders including Trump, Theresa may and Justin Trudeau have congratulated Macron.
• The British prime minister spoke to Macron in a brief call in which the pair discussed Brexit. Macron also had a “warm” conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel.
• Financial markets have been muted in response to Macron’s victory, the Euro remaining fairly flat in early Asian trading.