The FN, which pushed a hardline stance on Islam, security and national identity, saw a poll boost in the wake of the Paris attacks three weeks ago in which Islamic State gunmen killed 130 people at Paris bars, the Bataclan concert hall and in a suicide bombing outside the Stade de France.

First estimations on Sunday showed the FN on top nationally with 27-30% of the vote, compared with only 11% in the last regional elections in 2010. The party came top in six out 13 mainland French regions – a historic moment for the far-right which has never before held the leadership of a French region.

The party leader, Marine Le Pen, achieved a personally high score of more than 40% in the northern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, the poorest region in mainland France which as a population of 6 million, greater than that of Denmark. Smiling, she announced that her party was now “the first party in France” and that the nation as a whole could “hold its head up again”. She said the party would treat the result with humility and a profound sense of responsibility.