French far-right chief Le Pen leads in local race

(Reuters) - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen took a commanding lead in the first round of a legislative election on Sunday, raising the prospect of a seat in parliament for her anti-immigrant party as her arch-foe, firebrand leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, bowed out.
National Front leader Le Pen won more than 42 percent of the vote in a working class town in northern France where she has established a base, tapping into unease over high unemployment and years of economic decline.
Before official results were announced, Le Pen said the result in Henin-Beaumont showed that her party remained a powerful political force in France after she placed third in a presidential election last May.
"Tonight, we confirm our position as the third political force in France," she said in front of cheering militants.
If Le Pen wins a run-off round against Socialist candidate Philippe Kemel on June 17, her anti-euro party will win a seat in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament, for the first time since 1986.
Her arch-foe, hardline Left Front leader Melenchon, conceded defeat in a brief speech under driving rain, saying his party had made progress but not enough to beat Socialist Kemel and stay in the race.
It means that the powerful orator who came fourth in the presidential race in May and drew tens of thousands to open air rallies with fist-shaking speeches aiming to revive France's revolutionary spirit will not have a platform in parliament.
"Unfortunately, it's not enough," a glum Melenchon said. "It is natural to be disappointed ... but we must not allow ourselves to become downtrodden."