French conservatives, Socialists say will back Macron for president

Benoit Hamon, French Socialist party 2017 presidential candidate, delivers a speech at La Mutalite meeting hall in Paris after early results in the first round of 2017 French presidential election, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

PARIS (Reuters) - Senior French conservatives and Socialist presidential candidate Benoit Hamon said on Sunday that they would back centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7 runoff against far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

After initial projections indicated Macron and Le Pen had qualified for the second round, Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon told supporters his party had suffered an "historic blow" from its voter base and called on voters to back Macron and reject Le Pen in "the strongest possible way".