French election results: Emmanuel Macron beats Marine Le Pen with 65 per cent of vote

Centrist Emmanuel Macron beats Marine Le Pen to the French presidency, winning about 65 of the vote, according to a projection by Kantar Public One Point-TF1-RTL.
Polling conducted by Ipsos, Ifop and BVA all gave Mr Macron, the pro-business candidate, a strong lead over Front National leader Marine Le Pen. 

It comes after a massive hacking attack on Mr Macron's campaign database over the weekend which saw hundreds of thousands of private emails and official documents dumped online.

Macron, 39, who has never held elected office and until 3 years ago was totally unknown, becomes France’s youngest ever president. He has already met Theresa May in London and speaks fluent English.

As widely reported, Macron was the pro-EU candidate in this race, and Brussels chiefs are absolutely delighted with his win. 

"The Prime Minister, (Theresa May) warmly congratulates President-elect Macron on his election success," said a spokesman for the PM.

"France is one of our closest allies, and we look forward to working with the new president on a wide range of shared priorities."

In his programme pledges to “defend the integrity of the European single market”. “All companies that have access to it must be subject to the same rules,” he says.
And he sees an opportunity for France to attract talent from the UK: “I want banks, talents, researchers, academics and so on,” he said.

The new president and his defeated rival have just had a "brief" and "cordial" exchange on the telephone. Marine Le Pen called Macron to "wish him success". She tells supporters the new divide in France is between "globalists and patriots" .