Freshly re-elected in April, France’s president lost his parliamentary majority in June. So who is Emmanuel Macron and what defines his paradoxical politics?
A man goes to the polling booth in Le Touquet for the second round of the legislative election on 19 June 2022.
Ludovic Marin/AFP
The results of the second round resulted in a historic record of seats for the RN and an even greater polarisation of political life within the National Assembly itself.
The results of the first round of the legislative elections on 12 June from the headquarters of Ensemble! (presidential coalition) in Paris show the close finish with the left-wing coalition Nupes.
Ludovic Marin/AFP
The first round of the French presidential elections leaves the country’s party system in tatters and voters divided along three poles. What will happen in the second round is now anyone’s guess.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon was the great success story of the first round. The question now becomes – who gets his votes in the second?
Announcement of the results of the first round of the presidential election showing the two candidates qualified for the second round, Emmanuel Macron (28.4%) and Marine Le Pen (23.2%) (estimates at 22:40).
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP
The dynamics of the “strategic vote” in France have amplified the restructuring of the political field around three major poles: centrist, identitarian and far left.
Far-right candidates Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen have both benefited from substantial support by media groups sympathetic to their ideas.
Thomas Coex/AFP
While many progressive movements have organised online, conservatives dominate because of better organisation, capital, and social inequality. France’s presidential elections are a case in point.
There are 12 candidates in the first round of the campaign – two favourites, three outsiders and a host of people with no chance of making it to the second round.
The RN candidate has spent the past years attempting to present herself as a champion for living standards.
VALENTINE CHAPUIS / AFP
Under fire for her past Russian links, Marine Le Pen may still be within reach of the second round of the French presidential elections thanks to her left-leaning economic agenda.
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France’s President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference following an EU leaders summit to discuss the fallout of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, on March 11, 2022.
Ludovic Marin / AFP
The “rally round the flag” phenomenon has been an important fixture of political science. Will voter anxiety over war in Ukraine give president candidate Macron a definitive boost?
A new world order or more of the same?
Frederic Legrand - COMEO/Shutterstock
A gap is widening between ordinary people and an elite they deem to be arrogant and disconnected from the realities French people face. In many minds, Macron epitomises this elite.
Zemmour’s ideas are nothing new.
Bertrand Guay/AFP
The south-eastern region of France known as PACA has long been a centre of power for the far-right, but recent failures in the regional elections bring its future into question for Marine Le Pen.
French president, Emmanuel Macron: trapped in an endless cycle of crisis.
EPA-EFE/Ludovic Marin/Pool
Strasbourg officials are within their right to allow public funds to be used to build what may be the largest mosque in Europe. But that hasn’t stopped the backlash
With unrest deepening between pro-independence and loyalist groups, the instability in the French province should be of concern to its near neighbours, including Australia.