Results for the first round of the French presidential elections
Dr Nicole McLean
Bonjour !
We have a case of déjà vu when we look at the results of the first round of the presidential elections in France, which took place on Sunday 10th April. As predicted, it’s Macron VS Le Pen again.
Current French President, Emmanuel Macron, received 27.9% of votes, while far-right candidate Marine Le Pen had the support of 23.2% of voters. These figures are similar to that of the 2017 first round results, which saw Macron with 24% of votes and Le Pen with 21.3%.
If history is anything to go by then Macron should win comfortably on April 24th. In 2017, he received double the amount of votes (66.1%) than Le Pen (33.9%) in the final election round.
Given that both candidates sit on the right side of the political spectrum, their election into the second round reinforces France’s conservative position. The abstention rate of eligible voters, estimated at around 26%, was higher this year than in 2017, indicating that voters are increasingly feeling misrepresented, and even alienated, by the political class.
One candidate who came very close to overtaking Le Pen was Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The only left-wing candidate to have the second round within reach, Mélenchon received an impressive 22% of votes.
It is a relief, admittingly, that the extreme-right trend which swept the globe, from Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, did not manage to replicate itself in France this election. The hype around Éric Zemmour proved to be the result of strategic publicity pursuits, instead of grounded public support, given that the former political journalist received only 7.1% of votes.
Finally, centre-right candidate, Valérie Pécresse, scrapped into fifth place. The overwhelming dominance of right-wing candidates in the top five again confirms that the majority of the French population hold more traditionalist conservative views.
So, who will win? Seeing as though Macron is the less extremist of the two finalists, it is assumed he will take the reign again.
Tune into our final Living The French Election 2022 discussion group on 28th April, after the final election round, to debate the election result and future of France over the next five years.