Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front failed to take a single region during the runoff of regional elections after dominating the first round of voting, pollsters projected. The conservatives of former president Nicolas Sarkozy surged against the governing Socialists, changing the political map of France.
France's far-right National Front (FN) saw record gains in the first round of regional polls on Sunday, held under a state of emergency just three weeks after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris. Despite the strong result, it faces an uphill battle to clinch a run-off vote next week after Socialists withdrew candidates to block it from power.