Conservatives want poll deal with Le Pen-led French far right

PARIS: The leader of France's conservative party on Tuesday called for an alliance between his party's candidates and the far right National Rally in a snap parliamentary election - a political shift that will have wide repercussions.

"We say the same things so let's stop making up imagined opposition," Eric Ciotti, president of The Republicans (LR), told TF1 television. "This is what the vast majority of our voters want. They tell us 'reach a deal'."

Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration, eurosceptic National Rally is expected to emerge as the strongest force after President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections for June 30 and July 7. The RN was therefore looking for allies to secure control of parliament and it immediately applauded Ciotti's comment.