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Recent opinion polls gave Macron lead despite Le Pen’s recent efforts to soften her image

France yesterday began voting in an election that is to decide whether pro-EU centrist French President Emmanuel Macron keeps his job or is unseated by far-right euroskeptic Marine Le Pen in what would amount to a political earthquake. Opinion polls in the past few days gave Macron a solid and slightly growing lead as analysts said that former National Rally president Le Pen — despite her efforts to soften her image and tone down some of her party’s policies — remained unpalatable for many. However, a surprise Le Pen victory could not be ruled out, given the high numbers of voters who

" I'm very disappointed. France hasn't been working well for years. Macron has done nothing for the middle classes," says a voter.

Agencies indicate incumbent set to win with 57%-58.5% of vote

The promise of French President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office 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 then-US president 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 has not worked out that way. Champions of so-called centrism believed that Macron would be a desperately needed antidote to polit...