Presenter Ben McPartland is joined by The Local France’s Emma Pearson and John Lichfield, in a special episode recorded on Sunday night just after the results came in for France’s snap elections – ushering in a shock victory for the left alliance.

After all pollsters predicted that Marine Le Pen’s far right group would be the biggest party, in fact it was the left alliance Nouveau Front Populaire which came first, with the far-right group pushed into third place by Emmanuel Macron’s centrist group. 

You can find the Talking France podcast on Spotify or Apple, download it HERE or listen on the link below. 

The defeat of the far-right was strongly influenced by the ‘Republican Front’ – in which parties agreed to withdraw candidates in certain key seats and voters used their vote to block the far-right in their local constituency.

But the result is far from simple – although the left alliance has the largest number of seats it does not have a majority. The likely result will be a deadlocked parliament and a chaotic political scene.

The developments of this week will be crucial, especially the key question of who will be France’s next prime minister.

Talking France will return with a full-length episode on Thursday, looking at the latest progress in that attempt to build a government.

Talking France is a free podcast made possible thanks to the support of subscribers of The Local – you can find out more about becoming a subscriber HERE, or help us by spreading the word about Talking France or leaving us a review.

Related articles:

• What happens next in France after bombshell election results?
• French far right blasts ‘alliance of dishonour’ as left celebrates shock win
• Who will be France’s next prime minister?
• OPINION: France has stepped away from the far-right abyss, but into a political morass