Analysis: France’s new parliament likely to be less pliant as president tries to tackle a series of crises

• Macron’s centrists projected to lose parliamentary majority

Domestic difficulties are stacking up for Emmanuel Macron as his second presidential term begins in earnest this week after his centrists lost their absolute majority in parliament.

The newly elected president now faces uncertainty over how to strike alliances in order to push through key legislation this summer.

Rachel Keke, who coordinated successful strike for better pay and conditions, takes on Macron’s former sports minister

A hotel housekeeper who led a strike for better pay and conditions at one of the biggest hotels in Paris could become the first cleaner to be elected to the French parliament on Sunday, as a left alliance challenges Emmanuel Macron’s centrists.

Rachel Keke, 48, said years of gruelling work cleaning up to 40 rooms a day at the Ibis hotel in Batignolles would enable her to speak up for workers in parliament. Her aim was to “make visible those who are invisible”, she told one rally.

France’s president will be hoping his habit of planting a peck on a pate on polling days will bring him luck in parliamentary elections

Emmanuel Macron’s apparent habit of kissing a bald supporter on the head on election day has sparked French media speculation over whether it was a superstitious gesture as his centrists face a tough challenge from the left.

As the French president went to vote in the first round of the parliamentary elections in the northern seaside resort of Le Touquet, where he has a house, he approached waiting supporters before grabbing party activist Grégoire Campion and kissing him on his bald head.