From French fringe to mainstream: Far-right breaks through in election shock

The far-right has sent a shock wave through France's political establishment, winning a historic number of seats in Sunday's parliamentary elections with an unexpected surge.

Marine Le Pen's National Rally won 89 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, a dramatic increase from its starting point of just eight and one of the most significant recent results for radical right-wing politics in Europe.

Until now, voters across the political spectrum had largely held back the far-right challenge, but Le Pen's transformation of her party's image from fringe extremists to...