London | President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble that French voters would reject populism in a snap parliamentary election looks to have failed, after his centrist bloc was beaten into third place by parties of the hard right and left.

The big winner was the National Rally, presided over by veteran right-wing populist politician Marine Le Pen and her 28-year-old protégé and potential prime minister, the smooth and social-media savvy Jordan Bardella.