France is being rocked by a political earthquake. Earlier this month, the right-wing populist National Rally (RN) surged in the European Parliament elections. Marine Le Pen’s party not only topped the polls – it also won double the vote share of President Emmanuel Macron’s liberal, centrist Renaissance. In the immediate aftermath, Macron dissolved the French parliament and announced snap legislative elections, the first round of which take place today. He had hoped to rally voters behind him against the spectre of the ‘far right’. But all the polling suggests his gamble is set to fail. RN is on course to come top, and may even win a historic parliamentary majority.
