France's far-right National Front topped the vote nationally in the first round of high-stakes regional elections on Sunday, exit polls showed, a major boost for the anti-immigration party.
Boosted by fears over the Nov. 13 Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, stubbornly high unemployment and worries about immigration, Marine Le Pen's party secured 30.6 percent of the vote nationally, an exit poll by Ifop-Fiducial poll showed.
The anti-Europe, anti-immigration party beat former president Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative Les Republicains party and their allies, who secured 27 percent, into second place.