Emmanuel Macron’s strategy paid off handsomely. The French president always wanted a rematch with the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whom he vanquished in 2017. He was counting on her weaknesses and the instincts of French voters to close ranks against the far-right — the so-called republican front — to prevail once again. It worked, despite the extraordinary popular anger and invective directed at him after five turbulent years in power.
A win for Le Pen — who had promised wrenching changes for France’s economy, society and foreign policy — would have been a leap in the dark. To the immense relief of EU partners and much of the business community, the French did not want to take it, opting instead for continuity, of sorts.
Macron’s victory was historic — the first president to win re-election in two decades and the first to win a second term while controlling the government (François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac were in “cohabitation” with the opposition) since the direct vote was introduced in 1962.