Emmanuel Macron’s rise electrifies French election race
Novice presidential candidate draws in supporters with pledge of economic overhaul
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights.
https://www.ft.com/content/a36b107a-dca6-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6
Campaigning on far-right territory in France’s struggling industrial north, Emmanuel Macron offered residents little hope of a quick remedy and no scapegoats for their woes — only the vow to fix the broken economy.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights.
https://www.ft.com/content/a36b107a-dca6-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6
“Let’s not lie to ourselves,” the 39-year-old presidential candidate told a crowd in Henin-Beaumont, a town run by the National Front, as he called for more than a decade of patient investment in education, technology and renewable energy. “The FN is lying to you. It has no plan.”
In a country targeted by Islamist extremists and where FN leader Marine Le Pen is predicted to qualify for the second round of the presidential elections on an identity and security platform, Mr Macron has confounded political analysts by focusing on the economy and a promise to revive France’s social mobility.
In the process he has electrified the French presidential campaign. Surveys indicate that Mr Macron, a former economy minister running as an independent, has emerged as the third man in the contest behind Ms Le Pen and centre-right candidate François Fillon — and can even hope to qualify for May’s run-off between the two leading first-round candidates.
François Hollande, the Socialist president, has ruled out re-election amid abysmal approval ratings, leaving Manuel Valls, the pro-business former prime minister, as the party’s frontrunner. But if he loses this month’s primaries to a leftwing hardliner, Mr Macron could hope to pick up centre-left votes.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights.
https://www.ft.com/content/a36b107a-dca6-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6
“The economy, jobs, unemployment remain top priorities for French voters,” said Adelaide Zulfikarapasic, head of BVA’s political surveys. “It’s on the economy that Hollande has failed, the reason why he was so unpopular and why he was forced on the side. Macron will probably have to address terrorism and security, but for now, embodying a new political alternative seems to make up for this potential weakness.”
Novice presidential candidate draws in supporters with pledge of economic overhaul
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights.
https://www.ft.com/content/a36b107a-dca6-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6
Campaigning on far-right territory in France’s struggling industrial north, Emmanuel Macron offered residents little hope of a quick remedy and no scapegoats for their woes — only the vow to fix the broken economy.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights.
https://www.ft.com/content/a36b107a-dca6-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6
“Let’s not lie to ourselves,” the 39-year-old presidential candidate told a crowd in Henin-Beaumont, a town run by the National Front, as he called for more than a decade of patient investment in education, technology and renewable energy. “The FN is lying to you. It has no plan.”
In a country targeted by Islamist extremists and where FN leader Marine Le Pen is predicted to qualify for the second round of the presidential elections on an identity and security platform, Mr Macron has confounded political analysts by focusing on the economy and a promise to revive France’s social mobility.
In the process he has electrified the French presidential campaign. Surveys indicate that Mr Macron, a former economy minister running as an independent, has emerged as the third man in the contest behind Ms Le Pen and centre-right candidate François Fillon — and can even hope to qualify for May’s run-off between the two leading first-round candidates.
François Hollande, the Socialist president, has ruled out re-election amid abysmal approval ratings, leaving Manuel Valls, the pro-business former prime minister, as the party’s frontrunner. But if he loses this month’s primaries to a leftwing hardliner, Mr Macron could hope to pick up centre-left votes.
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our T&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights.
https://www.ft.com/content/a36b107a-dca6-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6
“The economy, jobs, unemployment remain top priorities for French voters,” said Adelaide Zulfikarapasic, head of BVA’s political surveys. “It’s on the economy that Hollande has failed, the reason why he was so unpopular and why he was forced on the side. Macron will probably have to address terrorism and security, but for now, embodying a new political alternative seems to make up for this potential weakness.”
