We shouldn’t be celebrating the defeat of populism just yet

Liberals have taken heart from Emmanuel Macron’s early showing in the French presidential elections, but they shouldn’t get carried away, writes Mark J Roe.

THE liberal West heaved a collective sigh of relief when the results of the first round of the French presidential election came in.

After leading in the polls for weeks, Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front ended up in second place, while Emmanuel Macron, a centrist political independent, finished first.