Reacting to the news, Ms Le Pen said: “This historic election shows that when the people vote, the people win.” She cast the European election result as the latest stepping stone in an RN march to power, both in parliament and in the Elysee.

The RN, led by the 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, won about 32 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election, according to exit polls. Mr Macron’s party reached 16 per cent and the Socialists managed 14 per cent.

Ms Le Pen and Mr Bardella sought to frame the EU election as a mid-term referendum on Mr Macron’s mandate, tapping into discontent with immigration, crime and a two-year inflation crisis.

In Germany, Mr Scholz’s SPD won just 13.9 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls. It has never fared so badly in the years since the first European parliament election in 1979.

The CDU was predicted to win 30 per cent of the vote, with AfD was expected to take 16 per cent, despite its lead candidate being embroiled in a Chinese spying scandal and saying that not all SS members were automatically criminals.