Emmanuel Macron had claimed he wanted to provide a “moment of clarification” for French voters by calling a snap election. Instead he’s prompted nothing short of political chaos for the Republic. According to exit polls from the second round of voting on 7 July, French voters turned out en masse to block the hard-right National Rally (RN) from taking control – and in a surprise move, propelled the country’s left-wing alliance into first place. But the shape of any future government is still uncertain, especially with the current prime minister’s immediate offer of resignation. All that is guaranteed is parliamentary deadlock.
Voters clearly recognised how high the stakes were in this election. By 5pm, nearly three hours before polls closed in many cities, 60 per cent of registered voters had cast their ballots in the second round run-off vote, slightly higher than the first round a week earlier and higher than any election in more than 30 years. Following Macron’s June announcement of a snap election – prompted by the surge in support for Marine Le Pen’s hard-right RN party at the European elections on 6-9 June – the RN took the lead in the first round of voting last week, while the four-party left-wing alliance the New Popular Front (NFP) came second and Macron’s centrist alliance limped in at third.
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