The far-right Front National has topped the poll in a parliamentary by-election in eastern France but may struggle to win the seat in the second round next weekend, reports The Independent.
The voting in Doubs, in Franche Comté, was the first significant test of the mood of the French electorate since the terrorist attacks in Paris last month.
The candidate for the governing Socialist party polled better than expected and qualified for a two-candidate run-off next Sunday.
In a blow to former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s hopes of reviving the fortunes of the centre right, his party’s candidate was knocked out in the first round.
The by-election was fought in freezing conditions on empty streets and roads, amid widespread local indifference. Heavy snow today further reduced the turnout in a mixed rural-industrial area of economically depressed small towns and villages next to the Swiss border.
The poll was still seen as an important guide to the mood of the French electorate half way through the term of President François Hollande.