A win for Macron will not be a complete defeat for France’s far right

If the centrist president wins, it will be by swinging the political pendulum further in Marine Le Pen’s direction

French President and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron speaks during a campaign rally this month. Picture: AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani

The promise of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency was straightforward: he would transcend the concepts of left and right, and consign populism to the margins of French politics. His rise to power in the spring of 2017 was an apparent lifeboat for liberals traumatised by Brexit and Donald Trump: here was the “centrist” prince over the water, a beacon of good governance and confirmation that the grownups were back in the room.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Champions of so-called centrism believed Macron would be a desperately needed antidote to political polarisation. But Macronism has acted as an accelerant, not a coolant, leaving the country more troubled, divided and disillusioned than when this former investment banker secured office. Macron’s likely re-election, thanks to tactical voting, should not obscure a damning fact: the far right will come closer to gaining power in a western European nation than at any time since 1945.