French election live: Emmanuel Macron beats Marine Le Pen to be re-elected president, projections show

A quick reminder of how Macron and Le Pen reached this final round, what their respective platforms are, and how we can expect the evening to unfold.

The current president and his far-right rival finished first and second – from a field of 12 – in the first round of voting two weeks ago, on 10 April.

Macron polled just under 9.8m votes (27.85% of those cast) and Le Pen 8.13m votes (23.15%). The radical-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon came a close third with 7.7m votes, just 420,000 short of Le Pen. The candidates for the mainstream right and left imploded, with Valérie Pécresse of the rightwing Les Républicains scoring 4.7% and Anne Hidalgo, the Paris mayor who ran for the Socialist party, managing just 1.7%.

Macron’s manifesto includes a cap on fuel prices, index-linked pensions and a progressive rise in the retirement age to 65. He also campaigned for a stronger Europe.

Le Pen has promised to lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for those who began work before the age of 20, cut VAT on fuel, and pass a new “national preference” law that would give French nationals priority for housing, jobs and benefits.

Most polling stations close at 7pm local time and those in big cities and hour later. Initial estimations of the result are expected from several pollsters at 8pm.

These are not exit polls but projections based on actual votes cast in a representative sample of polling stations around the country, weighted by the pollster’s magic. They are usually very accurate.