Macron’s centrists could lose control as leftwingers rise in parliament election

President faces a messy scramble if he cannot achieve absolute majority in second round of elections

A new alliance of the French left is putting pressure on Emmanuel Macron's grouping in the second round of the parliament election, as the president tries to hold on to his parliamentary majority.

Macron's centrists could lose dozens of seats in France's national assembly in the final next Sunday after a strong showing by a historic alliance of parties on the left, led by the hard-left Jean-Luc Melenchon's France Unbowed with the Socialists and the Greens.