French election results: Conservatives 1st, Socialists 2nd, far-right National Front in 3rd

Far Right National Front party leader Marine Le Pen leaves after the second round of the regional elections in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, Sunday Dec.13, 2015. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front collapsed in French regional elections Sunday after dominating the first round of voting, according to pollsters’ projections. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) (The Associated Press)
Far Right National Front party leader Marine Le Pen leaves after delivering her speech after the results of the second round of the regional elections in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, Sunday Dec.13, 2015. Far right leader Marine Le Pen has pledged to keep fighting to expand voter support for her National Front party, striking an upbeat tone despite a stinging defeat in regional elections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – Official French election results put the conservative party ahead with 40.2 percent of the votes nationwide.

The results from Sunday’s vote put the Socialist party in second with 28.9 percent and the far-right National Front in third with 27.1 percent.

The National Front won its largest number of votes in an election with a total of 6.8 million, better than the score of its leader Marine Le Pen in the 2012 presidential race. Yet the party failed to get a majority in any one region.

The conservatives took control of seven of France’s 13 regions while the Socialist party won in five regions. The winner in Corsica wasn’t affiliated with a major party.

The Socialists notably lost the Paris region, which conservative candidate Valerie Pecresse won.