Explainer-in-brief: Macron gears up for the first hurdle of the election
France will head to the first set of polls this Sunday, with Emmanuel Macron widely expected to be re-elected – but not without a challenge.
He currently sits with a projected 27 per cent lead, followed by right-wing Marine Le Pen who has around 20 per cent, hard-left Jean-Luc Melenchon with 15 per cent and far-right pundit Eric Zemmour with around 10 per cent.
The French voting system requires one candidate to reach the majority in the first round to be elected. If this doesn’t happen, voters come back to the polls two weeks later and choose between the two top contenders. This is the most likely scenario, in which Macron would be facing Le Pen in a remake of the 2017 elections.
Macron’s attention has been absorbed by the war in Ukraine. But his voters want to hear more about how he plans to deal with the cost of living crisis, a path Le Pen has been marching on for her whole campaign.