French elections: Macron vows to be 'president for all France', after initial win

London: Emerging from a first- round vote as the clear favourite to become the next French president, Emmanuel Macron told his jubilant supporters in Paris that he means to govern all of France.

After projections gave him a slim lead over Marine Le Pen on Sunday, Macron appeared at a celebration rally in Porte de Versailles with his wife Brigitte and delivered a speech that, at times, sounded like he had won the vote outright, reports Guardian.

"The challenge is to open a new page in our political life and to take action so that everyone his able to find his or her place in France and in Europe. I want to be the president of all the people of France, for the patriots facing the threat of nationalism," he told the gathering vociferously chanting "Macron President."

Macron, who has styled himself as a liberal progressive outsider set to revolutionize politics, appealed to enough voters to get into the May 7 second round, as early projections put him at the head of the field with about 24% of the vote.

At 39, Macron is by far the youngest person to ever have a chance at the French presidency and his meteoric rise comes as a slight surprise as he has never stood in any kind of election before.

He did not have the backing of a traditional political party, had no constituency or firm voter base and was a complete unknown four years ago, but his central message of him being a modern, digitally-minded, international progressive who could make the centre fashionable again, seems to be working in his favour.