The centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le
Pen have won the first round of voting in French presidential elections,
projected results say.
Mr Macron won 23.7%, while Ms Le Pen won 21.7%, French TV
says.
The two saw off a strong challenge from centre-right
François Fillon and the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, according to the
projections.
The pair now face a run-off vote on 7 May.
Whoever wins the next round, the voting marks a shift away
from the leftist and centre-right parties that have long dominated French
politics.
Ms Le Pen leads the eurosceptic, anti-immigrant National
Front party. She has attempted to soften the party's tone and brought big gains
in the 2015 regional elections.
She has urged a shake-up of France's relations with the EU,
calling for negotiations followed by a referendum.
Mr Macron served as economy minister under current President
Francois Hollande. Despite his relative inexperience - he has never served as
an MP - polls see him defeating Ms Le Pen in the second round.
He told the AFP news agency "a new page in French
politics is being turned" as the results emerged.
Mr Macron is also likely to attract support from the
political establishment.
Defeated rival François Fillon has already endorsed him.
In other projections:
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose popularity surged on the back of
strong debate performances, is tipped to win around 19.5% of the vote
François Fillon, whose campaign was rocked by corruption
allegations, is on the same mark
Benoit Hamon of President Hollande's Socialist party lags
far behind on 6%
Turnout nationally appears to be similar to the last
election in 2012.
Nearly 60,000 police and soldiers were deployed across the
country to secure polling, with France still reeling from the shooting of a
policeman on the Champs Elysees.
This story was first published on BBC
