PARIS: Official French election results put the conservative party ahead with 40.2 percent of the votes nationwide.

The results from Sunday's vote put the Socialist party in second with 28.9 percent and the far-right National Front in third with 27.1 percent.

The National Front won its largest number of votes in an election with a total of 6.8 million, better than the score of its leader Marine Le Pen in the 2012 presidential race. Yet the party failed to get a majority in any one region.

The conservatives took control of seven of France's 13 regions while the Socialist party won in five regions. The winner in Corsica wasn't affiliated with a major party.

The Socialists notably lost the Paris region, which conservative candidate Valerie Pecresse won.