Emmanuel Macron, the incumbent president, defeated his right-wing rival, Marine Le Pen, in the second round of votes to secure another term under his presidency.
On the 24th of April, the votes of the second round were counted and Macron toppled Le Pen. With Macron receiving 58.5% of the votes compared to Le Pen’s 41.5%. Despite being a comfortable victory for Macron, it still saw a reduction in the gap between the two contenders since the last time they went up against each other. In particular, Marine Le Pen presented herself as less of a far-right candidate, hoping to grab some votes from the from the centre political voters. However, her efforts weren’t enough, being 5 million votes short off her target.
In the months running up to the elections, Macron seemed to have a dominant lead in the polls however within weeks of the votes, Le Pen’s persistent campaigning proved to be effective as she rocketed in the opinion polls, almost guaranteeing her through the first round of votes. The first round of voting was rather uneventful with the two most popular candidates making it through to the next round.
Emmanuel Macron was pleased with the result however his popularity among the French public has been declining during his tenure. Part of it derives from a growing anti-EU sentiment in the nation where many people are calling for ‘Frexit’ in order to allow France to return to its former glory as a powerful, prosperous nation.
