Original link: French left-wing coalition projected to beat the far right in surprise second-round result / CNN.
The final election result is not known yet. But the prognosis says:
This is a huge surprise as RN was expected to win - they were expected to become biggest party but not necessarrily get a majority.
Why did that happen? I am sure lots of experts will comment in the coming days, but here is my guess.
First NPF and Ensemble agreed to help each other to prevent RN from winning. With the french election system that helps a lot.
Second I think RN has a political problem. I don't think the french in general has a problem with RN economic policies. I think the french in general like RN's tough immigration policy. But I also think that the french in general does not share the soft stance towards Russia policy. It is only a few days since a Marine Le Pen CNN interview was summarized as "Marine Le Pen promises French far right will rein in aid to Ukraine". Despite what one may think about the specific policy changes she outlined, then the underlying message was "less support for Ukraine". I don't think the french in general agrees with that. They found out in 1940 the real cost of a soft stance towards a dictator in 1938.