The far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen, and Emmanuel Macron's centrist Republic on the Move party both suffered disappointing results in the first round of nationwide regional elections in France.

Instead, the early gainer looked to be the center-right Les Republicains, which got around 30 percent of the overall vote and topped the poll in six of France's 13 mainland regions.

By comparison, Le Pen's party received 20 percent of votes nationwide and Macron's ruling party 10 percent.

The traditional left, led by the Socialists, also performed well, finishing first in five regions.

The elections took place on the first day of the lifting of the six-months nationwide curfew, which, together with the other COVID-19 restrictions imposed in the past year, has fueled discontent and frustration among sections of the French population.

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The results are disappointing for Le Pen, as the National Rally party saw the regional elections as a dress rehearsal for the parliamentary and presidential elections next year, where she hopes to challenge Macron.

"Our voters didn't turn out," Le Pen said on Sunday night. "I call on them to respond urgently."

The leader of Macron's ruling party, Stanislas Guerini, said these first results were evidence it had failed to gain grassroots support despite five years in power. 

"It is a reminder that we, as the presidential majority, have work to do to build up a local presence, which is a long and laborious task that doesn't happen in one election," he told France Inter radio. 

Sunday's vote was marked by a low turnout, with only 34 percent of eligible voters turning up at the polls – a sharp decline from the last regional election in 2015, when turnout was 49 percent.

Analysts are speculating on the causes of this poor turnout, which makes it hard to draw any firm conclusions from these elections about the incoming presidential race.

But the second round of elections next Sunday will determine the final outcome of these elections.

"Of course we're asking ourselves questions," said National Rally's vice-president Jordan Bardella on RMC radio on Monday morning. "But it's a two-round election ... there's a second round and voters will have another chance to express themselves."

_{Cover image: /Christian Hartmann/POOL/AFP}