Macron to win absolute parliament majority next month, poll shows

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron's party is set to win an absolute majority in parliament in legislative elections next month, a poll showed on Thursday, indicating the young leader may have enough support to carry out an ambitious reform agenda. In an OpinionWay poll for financial daily Les Echos, Macron was seen getting 310 to 330 of the 535 mainland seats in the lower house of parliament, more than the 289 seats necessary for a majority. That chimes with a raft of recent polls suggesting Macron's start-up Republic On the Move (LREM) party would displace the Socialists as the largest party in the house and outrank the conservatives. The Socialists were seen getting only 25 to 30 seats, while The Republicans would win 140 to 160 seats. Macron plans to pass a reform of labour regulations by the end of September before kicking off overhauls of the unemployment insurance system and professional training later in the year and tackling pension schemes in 2018. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Hugh Lawson)