French far right sees record score in first poll since attacks

France's far-right National Front saw record-high results in regional polls today, held under a state of emergency just three weeks after Islamic extremists killed 130 people in Paris.

The National Front (FN) came first with between 27.2 and 30.8 per cent of the vote nationwide, and found itself topping the list in at least six of 13 regions, according to early estimates.

FN leader Marine Le Pen and her 25-year-old niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen broke the 40-per cent mark in their respective regions, shattering previous records for the party.

The polls were held under tight security following the country's worst-ever terror attacks, which have thrust the FN's anti-immigration and often Islamophobic message to the fore.

Around half the 45 million registered voters took part in the polls, which will see the top two parties in each region go to a run-off next Sunday.

The early estimates showed Marine Le Pen taking a whopping 40 per cent of the vote in the economically depressed northern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, once a bastion of the left.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen did even better in the vast southeastern Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur on 41 per cent.

"I expect to gain enough momentum in this first round to be optimistic about the second round" next Sunday, Marine Le Pen said as she cast her vote earlier in the day.

A grouping of right-wing parties took between 27 and 27.4 per cent, the estimates showed, while the ruling Socialist party and its allies took 22.7-23.5 per cent.

FN vice-president Florian Philippot told AFP the results showed they were "very much the first party of France".

France's regions have recently been consolidated and given more power over areas such as schools, transport and support for local businesses.