VOTERS took to the polls across France today in the first round of municipal elections — a test before next year’s presidential election for the successor to President Emmanuel Macron.

Although largely focused on local concerns, the voting will be scrutinised for any early hints of how France’s political parties might fare in the presidential race next year, when Mr Macron’s second and last term as president ends.

Attention is particularly focused on key races in major cities, including Paris. Incumbent Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020, decided against seeking a third term, having steered the French capital through the trauma of Islamist attacks in 2015 and the exuberance of the Paris Olympics in 2024.

In Marseille, France’s second-largest city, polls pointed to a tight race between incumbent left-wing mayor Benoit Payan and the candidate of the far-right National Rally party, Franck Allisio.

The National Rally’s performances in municipal races will be studied for possible indications of whether the party of Marine Le Pen is gathering momentum in the lead-up to 2027, despite the possibility that she might be barred from challenging again for the presidency herself.

Last year, a French court convicted Ms Le Pen of embezzlement and prohibited her from seeking public office for five years.

She is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the far-right National Front, who was convicted multiple times of anti-semitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence.

Ms Le Pen is hoping that an appeals court clears her in a key verdict set for July 7.

More than 904,000 candidates for municipal posts in roughly 35,000 villages, towns and cities were on the ballots today.

In places where the outcome remains undecided, the second round of voting will determine final results on March 22.