French voters went back to the polls on Sunday for the first round of parliamentary elections that are predicted to give President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party a commanding majority.
Macron has enjoyed a political honeymoon since he beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to become France's youngest-ever president on May 7, naming a cabinet that straddles the left-right divide and making assured appearances in meetings with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But the 39-year-old president has done only half the job.
His Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) party, which he founded only 14 months ago, needs a clear majority in the National Assembly for him to push through the reforms he promised in his campaign.
A host of opinion polls show that Macron's untested party could take 30 per cent of the first-round vote, putting it on track to secure a landslide in next Sunday's second round.
The centre-right Republicans and the Socialists fear heavy losses after their candidates failed to reach the presidential run-off for the first time in France's postwar history.
Some predictions indicate the REM could win around 400 seats in the 577-seat chamber thanks to voters seeking to give the new president a strong mandate.
The party is already leading in 10 of the 11 French overseas constituencies, which held their first-round vote last weekend.
Macron, after shaking hands and posing for selfies with well-wishers, cast his ballot in the northern resort of Le Touquet where he and his 64-year-old wife Brigitte have a home. Few MPs are expected to be elected in the first round.
If no candidate wins over 50 per cent, the two top-placed contenders go into the second round — as does any candidate who garners at least 12.5 percent of registered voters.