Exit polls from Sunday's vote predicted that the FN had won 30.8% of the vote, followed by Mr Sarkozy's Republicans on 27.2% and President Francois Hollande's Socialists with 22.7%.
FN leader Marine Le Pen, who stood in the northern region of Nord-Pas-De-Calais-Picardie, and her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen, who stood in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur in the south, both looked to have won more than 40% of the vote, polls predicted, breaking previous records for the party.
