Richard Ferrand, head of French national assembly and Macron ally, beaten in lower house elections

Richard Ferrand, the head of France's national assembly and a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said he had been beaten in Sunday's French parliament election, in which Macron is set to lose his absolute majority.

Cristophe Castaner, a former interior minister and another senior figure who had shaped Macron's first five-year term, also admitted his defeat.