“The policies that I represent are the policies that are represented by Mr Trump. They’re represented by Mr Putin.” That was Marine Le Pen speaking in 2017. In just two weeks’ time, she could be elected as president of France.
Le Pen, the standard bearer of France’s far right, is now through to the final round of the presidential election, where she will face off against President Emmanuel Macron. The first round of voting placed Le Pen less than five percentage points behind Macron. The fact that 57 per cent of French voters opted for candidates of the extreme left or extreme right in the first round — while the traditional centre parties collapsed — looks bad for a centrist incumbent president, like Macron.
The first poll taken of voting intentions for the second round shows Macron beating Le Pen by 54 to 46 per cent. That will bolster the view that, although the race is close, a Le Pen victory remains very unlikely. But the uncomfortable reality is that the far right is now polling at levels that are unprecedented in France’s post-1945 history — and a lot can happen in a two-week campaign.