French far-right headed for defeat in regional vote, say exit polls

France's far-right led by Marine Le Pen was headed for a defeat as per exit polls. The far-right was projected to suffer defeat in all region. The ruling centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron was on way to suffer drubbing as wellin the second round. The voter turnout for the second round has been low.

Macron's ruling party could not break into double figures nationwide while the National Rally (RN) of Le Pen could not realise its main ambition of winning the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA) region that includes Marseille and Nice, according to the estimates by polling organisations broadcast by French television.

The region was seen as Le Pen's best chance to bring credibility to her claims that her party is fit to be in power ahead of next year's presidential election.

An exit poll by IFOP showed the far-right winning 44.2% of the run-off vote in PACA compared to 55.8% for the mainstream conservatives. A second survey by Opinionway showed the far-right taking 45% of the vote compared to 55% for its rivals.

In another key battleground in Sunday's regional elections, the northern Hauts-de-France region, exit polls showed the centre-right ticket headed by conservative Xavier Bertrand, another contender for the 2022 presidential vote, headed for a comfortable victory over the far-right.

If the projections are confirmed, they will raise questions over how successful Le Pen's strategy of softening the image of her anti-immigration euro-sceptic party to try to eat into the traditional right's vote has been.

Even so, analysts say the apparent failure of Le Pen and her party to win in two of its strongholds should not be extrapolated on to next year's presidential election.

Voter turnout in the country's 13 regions was very low and voters typically have little affinity with their regional administrations that are responsible for promoting economic development, transport and high schools.

(With inputs from agencies)