Macron and Le Pen face a lack of trust

Traditional parties on the left and right are likely to keep control of most regions in mainland France after a historically low turnout in last Sunday’s first-round vote and disappointing scores for both Emmanuel Macron’s ruling centrist party and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally).

Lists of candidates from the mainstream right topped the vote in six out of 13 regions in mainland France, leaving Nicolas Sarkozy’s old party, Les Républicains, as the dominant force, while left lists, where the