Macron wins presidential election beating Le Pen, exit polls predict

The first exit polls are predicting a win for Emmanuel Macron over his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen.

They are forecasting 58.2 per cent votes were cast in favour of the current president, compared to 41.8 per cent for the National Rally leader.

Mr Macron had played down his chances of success, urging voters not to take his victory as a given and insisting that a Le Pen victory is still a possibility.

France‘s main polling institutes Ipsos and Ifop said they saw the likely abstention rate at 28 per cent. This would be up from the 2017 election, which was the highest level since 1969 at the time.

The pollsters increased their estimate after the 5pm turnout rate of 63 per cent was released.