Voters have yet again shunned political norms, in favour of alternative outsiders. This time, it was France’s turn to rebel.
In an election campaign that has changed the face of French politics, voters rushed to polling stations yesterday to cast their votes for the next French president.
Last weekend, Emmanuel Macron, a centralist who’s never held elective office and his a far-right radical opponent, Marine Le Pen, have advanced to the final stage of the presidential elections.
In a fortnight, the two will go-head-to head to become the next president of France.
Macron looks set to take the prize home. The frontrunner founded his social liberal party in 2016. Macron’s pro-euro and open market agenda won the confidence of the voters at 23.8% of the overall votes. The voters left Eurosceptic, Le Pen, marginally behind at 12.4% of the votes.
With the future of not only France, but the European Union, in the balance, the market reacted to the announcement by adding 2 cents to EURUSD and 4% to France’s stock index, the CAC 40.
For France, yesterday’s news marks a profound change to the fundamentals of French politics. For the first time since WW II, an established right or left-wing party will not hold presidency.
The final stage of the campaign trail ends on the 7th of May, when voters will be asked once again to cast their ballots.