Political figures in France head to polls in critical parliament election

Voters, including political figures, in France on Sunday headed to the polling stations to elect new members of parliament as the country finds itself at a crucial political crossroads.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal voted in the town of Vanves outside Paris, while the head of the far-right party National Rally (RN) -- a candidate to lead the next government -- Jordan Bardella voted in the town of Garches, according to the broadcaster BFMTV.

Left-wing MP Manuel Bompard cast his vote in the southern city of Marseille, and another far-right leader of the Reconquete and former presidential candidate, Eric Zemmour, voted in Paris.

Former French President Francois Hollande voted in western France's Tulle.

The turnout was around 25.9% at noon in France, four hours into the election, the Interior Ministry said on X. This rate at this time was 18.43% in 2022 elections, it added.

Over 2.6 million proxy votes were registered on June 28 -- four times more than in the elections in 2022 -- according to the Interior Ministry figures.

More than 49 million registered voters will be able to cast a ballot to elect 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament, for a five-year term.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0600GMT), with voting to continue for 12 hours.

French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament and announced snap elections after the RN swept more than 31% of the vote in the European Parliament elections on June 9, defeating his centrist bloc.

National parliamentary elections will be held in two rounds, with the second to take place on July 7.