Info I hear from France suggests results may be very surprising.
I had to double check I was reading right. Now appears to be confirmed by *EARLY EXITS* in Swiss media:
RN weaker than expected.
Fight for first between left & Macronists, though RN possible still in right for low plurality.
Belgian media is now reporting the same thing.
2 other polling institutes are independently projecting the same thing: a much weaker RN than expected, and Left bloc potentially in first place.
Context here: Polls have closed in a lot of France as of 90 minutes ago. French media is not allowed to hint at any exit polls or potential trends until 8pm local time, but Belgian and Swiss media (a lot of which is French-speaking) are not bound.
Up there on the list of “unexpected patron saints of X” with David Cameron as the unexpected patron saint of Irish unification, we may now have to put Emmanuel Macron, unexpected patron saint of the revitalized French Left.
Macron tried to spike it and the people *running* for office refused to play ball with him, the majority of the center pols in 3rd dropped out and endorsed the left in defiance.
Right, but that was an act of defiance against Macron's desire that they stay in; there was a quiet refusal from most of the center in France. What was that line from the incumbent who stepped aside... something like "Defeat happens once; dishonor is forever"?
Didn’t the Macronists and Socialists specifically coordinate over the past week to stymie Le Pen? I thought I heard that individual candidates dropped out so that voters would either see a Macronist or Soc candidate but not both?
If NPF has the plurality but not a majority it seems very unlikely Mélenchon ends up PM. The Socialist Party is a partner in NPF too and is likely to be more palatable to coalition partners
