Independent candidate Emmanuel Macron will be the next president of France after defeating far-right populist leader Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French election on Sunday.

With most votes counted, Macron claimed 66.1 percent of the vote , outdoing expectations to deliver a decisive rebuttal to Le Pens claim that she is the voice of the French people.

Polling in the weeks before the election consistently showed Macron holding around a 20-point lead over Le Pen, who struggled to quell opposition to her extreme policies amid fears that financial markets would crash if she were elected.

Macrons landslide victory exposes the limits of Le Pens populist appeal and proves that she remains too divisive to gain power, despite years of attempting to de-demonize the National Front Party. The result takes pressure off the European Union, which would have had to contend with a possible French referendum on leaving the trading bloc if Le Pen had been elected.

But Macrons sizable win is hardly a death knell for Le Pen and the National Front her nearly 35 percent of the vote is still an all-time high for the French far-right and would have been unthinkable not many years ago. If Macron fails to deliver on his promise of reforms and economic prosperity, its entirely possible that Le Pen may return in a better position next election.

After the vote, Le Pen appeared aware that she would need to continue to shift perceptions of the National Front to further grow support. She said in her concession speech it was time to begin a deep transformation of the party in order to move it forward.

The National Front ... must deeply renew itself in order to rise to the historic opportunity and meet the French peoples expectations, Le Pen told supporters.