Emmanuel Macron has become the first incumbent to retain the French presidency in 20 years, after defeating rival Marine Le Pen in the French presidential run-off.
Macron [pictured, right] , the leader of the centrist party La République En Marche! [LREM], defeated his far-right challenger by a margin of 58.55 per cent of the vote to 41.45 per cent, thereby securing a further five years in power. Voter turnout stood at just under 72 per cent, the lowest in the second round of a French presidential election since 1969, with over three million votes either spoilt or submitted as blank.
Despite defeat, Le Pen’s voting share was the highest that her Rassemblement National party [previously Front National] has ever secured.
Speaking after his victory, Macron told his supporters that he would be “a president for all” of France, and part of his responsibility would be to find an answer “to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right” and an answer to the choice of some voters to “refuse to choose”.
Some anti-Macron demonstrators refused to accept the outcome of the election, with protests taking place in several major cities across France.
However, reaction from across the political sphere in Europe and the US has been positive, after some world leaders were concerned about Le Pen’s anti-EU policy outlook heading into the election.
US president Joe Biden said that he looked forward to continuing the “close co-operation” between France his country, including on providing support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson congratulated Macron in a tweet, hailing France as one of the UK’s “closest and most important allies”.
“I look forward to continuing to work together on the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world,” Johnson added.
Despite his presidential election win, there will be little respite for Macron as focus now turns to the French parliamentary elections in June.
The BBC's Paul Kirby quoted one opinion poll which indicated that 63 per cent of voters want to see the centrist LREM lose its majority. Should this happen, it would force Macron into a coalition with the French government being led by other parties, thus limiting his ability to implement certain reforms over topical issues such as pensions.
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
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