BREAKING NEWS

France's Macron says he won't name leftist prime minister

French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out naming a prime minister from the leftist New Popular Front alliance and will instead start a new round of consultations on Tuesday with parties to try to form a new government, Macron's office said.

Realising a government led by the New Popular Front (NFP) would immediately face a no-confidence vote in parliament from all other parties, Macron will confer with party heads and political leaders, the statement said on Monday. The NFP is a broad alliance of parties ranging from the moderate Socialists to Jean-Luc Melenchon's far-left France Unbowed.

Macron's announcement suggests there is no imminent end in sight to the country's political crisis after he called a shock snap election that delivered an unwieldy hung parliament.

No grouping emerged from the snap election earlier this summer with a majority, with the vote evenly split between the New Popular Front, Macron's centrist bloc and the far-right National Rally.

The New Popular Front won more votes than any other party, and has argued that its candidate, little known civil servant Lucie Castets, should be named prime minister.