France begins legislative election campaign

Candidates have until the evening of June 16 to register to run for 577 seats in the House of Representatives, before the official campaign begins at dawn on June 17 for the first round of elections on June 30, while the decisive second round will take place on July 7.

French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the National Assembly and called for early legislative elections three years after his centrist coalition was defeated by the right in European Parliament elections. Opinions in France, including former leaders, say Macron has taken a risk by calling early elections, which could lead to the far-right National Rally (RN) party leading the government and RN leader Jordan Bardella, 28, becoming prime minister.

Mr Macron's coalition is currently lagging behind with little chance of winning an absolute majority. However, Mr Macron has ruled out the possibility of resigning regardless of the vote result.