Surge in support for hard right in the French presidential election is a wake-up call for us all

Emmanuel Macron’s win in the French presidential election is welcome news for the entire European Union and by extension for Ireland. But the huge vote for far-right contender, Marine Le Pen, must serve as a wake-up call for politicians everywhere to improve their listening skills and re-connect with the less well-off citizens.

inning a second five-year mandate, President Macron, has pledged to govern in all citizens’ interests and he has already proposed different means of stimulating “a permanent national debate” on the key issues. We can give these pledges some credence because in some respects, his political battles only really begin today.

The French president faces an uphill battle to win the necessary parliamentary majority in legislative elections due to be held in two rounds on June 12 and June 19. Mr Macron’s Republic on the Move party, only created by him in 2017, has a very patchy national organisation and is not rooted at all in very many regions and localities.

There is a major danger that he may have to depend on parliamentarians from the hard left or the hard right to run a government in Paris. That increases the risk of a messy and rudderless period, known to the French by the term, “cohabitation”.

It is important to acknowledge that President Macron did well to win a second term, albeit with a reduced majority. His previous five years were dogged by the Covid-19 pandemic, during which he showed courageous leadership, facing down virus deniers and anti-vaccinators with plain speaking.

The Macron presidency also left the French economy in better shape, with strong growth and lower unemployment. He also contributed much to restoring some confidence in the European Union and helped persuade his partners in Berlin to undertake bolder projects, such a first ever borrowing by the bloc on international money markets to fund post-Covid economic revival projects.

But the downside of his five years in power is that he accentuated the divisions and unrest so evident in French society. This allowed Marine Le Pen and her hard-right National Rally (NR) party to gather pace to a point where they can now claim to be the second most popular political movement in France, a country which pioneered principles of human rights and equality, and was also a key founding member of the European Union.

Marine Le Pen reshaped and softened the image of the party founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, back in 1972. But the core values remain the same – deep scepticism towards the EU, anti-immigration, and giving French citizens priority in welfare, work and social benefits.

This was her third, and most successful, bid to take the French presidency which has huge direct executive powers, especially in foreign policy. In France, the story of eventual political success, is one of persistence and going again.

A key message for President Macron is that he is perceived as “a president for the rich”, too aloof to listen to poorer people’s concerns. Monsieur Macron and his counterparts everywhere must learn to listen more.