FRENCH ELECTION: Macron set for victory against Front National's Marine Le Pen in French Election

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FRENCH ELECTION – Emmanuel Macron is set to become the youngest French President as exit polls show the En Marche leader on 66% of the vote.

The 39-year-old has seen off competition from the far right candidate Marine Le Pen who polled just 34.5%.

While polls remain open in major cities the majority of French polling stations have closed.

Mr Macron, a pro-EU centrist, was firmly ahead of Ms Le Pen in the polls ahead of today’s vote but the far right politician had hoped to to upset the establishment with a shock result similar to Brexit .

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Marine Le Pen took over leadership of the Front National from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011.

In the first round there was a bigger than expected turn out for with about 80% of the population voting.

After winning 21.3% of the vote in the first round, she distanced herself from the Front National instead running as an independent.

But the change of tactic failed to win her the support she needed.

Macron was able to win comfortably despite a low turnout for today’s poll which saw just 65.3 % casting their ballot.

Macron has never held elected office and has also created his own movement, En Marche, after breaking ranks with unpopular Socialist incumbent Francois Hollande.

The centrist’s win comes despite a hacking attempt on his campaign database over the weekend which saw hundreds of thousands of private emails and official documents dumped online.

Earlier today the courtyard in front of the Louvre, where the newly elected President was expected to make a speech, was evacuated.

Local media reports say that a sniffer dog discovered some kind of camera battery at his media tent – aka press room – at the iconic French landmark.

“Following the detection of a suspicious bag, the 300 journalists (who were processing their accreditation), were asked to leave the area for security reasons and taken to a different area,” said an official from Macron’s campaign.

Paris Police said the precautionary measure was taken to carry out security checks

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