Pro-European Emmanuel Macron will face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round of France’s presidential election, projections showed yesterday, making him clear favourite to emerge as the country’s youngest leader in modern history.
Macron was projected to win 23-24% in yesterday’s first round, slightly ahead of National Front (FN) leader Le Pen with 21.6-23%, according to estimates on public television.
They will compete in a run-off on May 7.
“The French have expressed their desire for change,” Macron told AFP in a statement.
“We’re clearly turning a page in French political history,” said the 39-year-old, whose bid to shake up traditional politics and his marriage to his former school teacher has fascinated the country.
The outcome capped an extraordinary campaign in a deeply divided and demoralised France, which has been hit by a series of terror attacks since 2015 and remains stuck with low economic growth.
It also signalled a stunning shake-up in national politics, with no candidate from France’s mainstream Socialist and Republicans parties in the second round for the first time in 60 years.
Macron, who had never before stood for election and only started his centrist movement 12 months ago, will go into the second round as the clear frontrunner.
Polls released after the first-round estimates showed the centrist, pro-business moderniser would easily beat Le Pen, who has hardened her anti-immigration and anti-Europe rhetoric over the last week.
The French vote was being closely watched as a bellwether for populist sentiment following the election of Donald Trump as US President and Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
Throughout the campaign, Macron insisted that France was “contrarian” - ready to elect a pro-globalisation liberal at a time when rightwing nationalists are making gains across the world.
“It’s a victory for openness, social-mindedness and an understanding of the modern economy that will restore French competitiveness,” Macron supporter Marie-Helene Visconti, a 60-year-old artist, told AFP at his election party.
Le Pen will follow in her father Jean-Marie’s footsteps who made it through to the second round in 2002.
Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at the Parc des Expositions in Paris yesterday.
