THREE years ago, he was largely unknown to the public. Today he is a step away from becoming France’s president. Emmanuel Macron’s remarkable rise from obscurity to favourite for the presidential election on May 7th carries symbolic value well beyond his homeland. If he defeats Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN), as polls suggest he will, the country will have shown the rest of the world not only that it can favour youth over seniority, and optimism over fear, but that pro-European liberalism can still triumph over populism and nationalism.
A former Socialist economy minister and one-time investment banker, the 39-year-old Mr Macron topped first-round voting on April 23rd with 24%. Ms Le Pen came a close second, with 21%. The pair, neither of whom comes from an established mainstream party, knocked out candidates from both of the two political groupings that have held the French presidency for the past 60 years. François Fillon, a former prime minister who ran for the Gaullist Republican party, came third on 20%. Benoît Hamon, the Socialists’ candidate and a former backbench rebel, sank to a dismal fifth place, on 6%. Despite a late surge, the Communist-backed...Continue reading
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