PARIS, April 11 (Reuters) – It was going to be bad. It turned out to be worse. Conservative Valerie Pecresse scored below 5% in the first round of the France’s presidential election, the centre right’s lowest score in modern history and one which threatens its survival.

When the first projections flashed up as polling stations closed, stunned Pecresse supporters gasped: “What now?”

Having failed to cross the vote threshold needed to ensure her campaign expenses were partly refunded, Pecresse on Monday asked for urgent donations by mid-May to save the party as it look towards the legislative elections in June.

Only a decade ago, Nicolas Sarkozy was readying himself to run for a second mandate after almost 17 years of centre-right rule in France.

Now, the Les Republicains party’s existence is under threat after its voters turned to incumbent Emmanuel Macron, far-right challenger Marine Le Pen and extreme-right candidate Eric Zemmour, seeing no val