French President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party has won a solid majority in the second round of the country's parliamentary elections.

The Socialist Party together with left-leaning independants won 314 seats in the lower-house National Assembly, compared to 191 seats for the centre-right UMP conservative party.

Supporters said the results gave recently-elected Socialist president Francois Hollande a clear mandate to carry out his policies.

But the victory was overshadowed by the defeat of socialist candidate Segolene Royal, who was hoping to become speaker of the National Assembly.

The defeat of the former partner of President Francois Hollande deals an embarrassing blow to the Socialist Party, whose hierarchy had backed Royal's candidacy.

In another twist, the National Front party entered parliament for the first time since the mid-1980s.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen, the granddaughter of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, beat a centre-right rival in the south-eastern town of Carpentras.