French President Macron holds talks with far-right Marine Le Pen amid his election failure 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday held talks with opposition leaders on ending the deadlock sparked by his failure to secure a majority in parliamentary elections.

Macron met right-wing, Socialist and Communist party chiefs at the Elysee, including rare talks with far-right leader Marine Le Pen – whom he beat in an April presidential run-off – as he seeks solutions to a tricky situation that risks plunging his second term into crisis two months after it began.

The spectre of political paralysis and the breakthrough performance by the far-right under Le Pen has also raised questions over Macron’s leadership in Europe as he seeks to keep a prime role in dealing with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Elysee said French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, blamed by some analysts for…