France's right-wing parties take the Senate

France’s far-right National Front has won its first ever seats in the upper house of parliament.

Led by Marine Le Pen, the nationalist party picked up two seats.

The win follows on from its surprise victory in the European parliamentary elections in May and its strong showing in municipal elections in March.

Half of the Senate’s 348 seats were up for grabs on Sunday in a limited vote by mostly local councillors.

Right-wing parties, including the main opposition UMP, won a majority of between 10 and 20 seats, according to partial results.