French election 2017: When will the results be announced and what happens next?

Fiona Simpson7 May 2017

France has taken to the polls to cast their votes in the country’s presidential election.

Voters will choose either centrist Emmanuel Macron or former National Front leader Marine Le Pen as the next French president – but when will the results be announced?

Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to ballot stations across the country as they opened at 8am (7am BST) on Sunday.

Polls close at 8pm (7pm BST) with exit polls announced almost immediately offering what is widely thought to be an accurate view of the result.

UK polling stations close at 7pm BST.

The winner looks set to be confirmed before midnight (11pm BST).

Leadership race: Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron
REUTERS

As of midday (11am BST), turnout was 28.2 per cent, which is about two points lower than at the same time in 2012.

If Macron wins, and becomes the youngest French president at 39 years old, he will celebrate with a reception at the Louvre in Paris.

The museum’s courtyard was evacuated earlier on Sunday over reports that a suspicious bag had been discovered.

Security clear The Louvre following a scare.
Getty Images

If Le Pen is elected the country’s first female leader, her victory will be celebrated at the Chalet du Lac in the Bois de Vincennes, on the eastern edge of the capital.

Following the result outgoing president Francois Hollande will welcome his successor to the Elysee Palace within two weeks.

After a private meeting in which he hands over the nuclear launch codes, Mr Hollande will depart.

En Marche's Emmanuel Macron will go head-to-head with far right Front National party Marine Le Pen
AFP/Getty Images

The new head of state then takes centre stage with ceremonies culminating in a ride up the Champs Elysees in an open-top limousine escorted by Republican Guards on horseback.

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