France’s far-right National Rally (RN) look to have failed in their bid to win their first ever region, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, which was a target for Marine Le Pen’s party.
Exit polls suggest their candidate, Thierry Mariani, took only 43% of the vote and lost to the centre-right Republicans.
The election which saw a record low turnout of less than 30%, also brought disappointment for President Emmanuel Macron.
His centrist party, La République En Marche (LREM), also failed to win control of any region after performing badly in the first round, which was held last week.
It is the first time President Macron’s party is taking part in regional elections, as it did not exist the last time they were held in 2015.
Other early results from the second round suggest wins for traditional centre-right parties, and for the left.
The Hauts-de-France region around Calais in the north had also been earmarked as a potential gain for Le Pen’s RN, but was won by conservative Xavier Bertrand.
Bertrand told his supporters after the polls closed that the far-right ” has been stopped in its tracks and we have pushed it back sharply.”
Meanwhile Le Pen has accused her rivals of forming “unnatural alliances” to block her and her party from power.
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