CLODAGH FINN: Shocks and surprises in France don’t necessarily mean seachange

Voters attracted by Emmanuel Macron say they will back his party candidates. However, despite the grandiose claims, it’s impossible to say if Macron’s staggering success is evidence of a new electoral cycle or a mere blip.

Tomorrow, the French will go to the polls in the second round of parliamentary elections which will, almost certainly, give President Emmanuel Macron’s new political party carte blanche to introduce his programme of reform.

Of course, it’s impossible to say anything with certainty in these volatile times, but it does look very likely that Mr Macron’s fledgling centrist party will sweep in with a huge majority, taking up to 450 of the 577 seats in the French National Assembly. If that happens, the fusty chamber, so used to seeing well-known faces on the political left and the right, will be shaken up by an unprecedented number of novice deputies, many of whom are making their first foray into politics. The so-called ‘Macron effect’ will also see the election of an impressive number of women, many of them previously unknown.