French lawmakers re-elect Macron-ally Braun-Pivet as parliament speaker

Lawmakers in France's National Assembly on Thursday handed centrist politician Yeael Braun-Pivet, a loyal ally of President Emmanuel Macron, a second term as speaker in a tight win over the candidate from the left.

Braun-Pivet scored 220 ballots while her main rival for the job, veteran communist lawmaker Andre Chassaigne, received 207 votes in a close race that required three rounds of voting.

The lower house of parliament was meeting for the first time since this month's inconclusive election in which the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance unexpectedly came first, ahead of Macron's centrists and Marine Le Pen's far-right, but no one group won a majority.

Reuters