Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen through to French presidential runoff

The centrist is expected to comfortably win the second round

Macron and Le Pen

 

Early reports on the first round of the French presidential election suggest that the far-right Marine Le Pen and the pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron have qualified for the second round run-off.

Vote estimates put Macron on about 23.7 per cent and Le Pen on 22 per cent. Those figures are subject to change as more results are tallied. The one-time frontrunner François Fillon is believed to have garnered just under 20 per cent, as has the hard left Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

The Socialist Party of current president François Hollande seem to have suffered a disaster, as early estimates put their candidate Benoît Hamon on 6.5 per cent.

Progressives will breathe a sigh of relief based on today’s turnout, since it’s now extremely difficult to see a route to victory for Le Pen. Hypothetical polls based on this scenario have predicted a comfortable Macron victory.

Already, the Hamon has publicly endorsed Macron, highlighting the need to defeat the far right.


See: What would a French President Macron mean for Brexit?

One Response to “Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen through to French presidential runoff”

  1. Chester Draws

    Le Pen isn’t the far right. Her economic policies could fit straight into Jeremy Corbyn’s pocket.

    Socially she is conservative (small c), but her policies would be unremarkable if seen in the US Republican or UK Conservative parties.

    What she isn’t is “neo-liberal” in any sense at all. Nor fascist in any sense at all — other than as terms of abuse for people who don’t actually know her policies.

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