PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron easily won re-election for a second term on Sunday, according to forecasts by polling institutes. In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union’s outcome offered reassurances of leadership stability in the bloc’s only nuclear-armed power and was immediately welcomed by France’s allies.
A second five-year term for centrist Macron spares France and its allies the seismic upheavals of a wartime power shift to Macron’s populist challenger Marine Le Pen, who was quick to concede defeat on Sunday night but nonetheless appeared to be on track for hers fiercely nationalist far-right politics.
During her campaign, Le Pen vowed to water down France’s ties with the 27-nation EU, NATO and Germany, moves that would have rocked Europe’s security architecture as the continent grapples with its worst conflict since World War II. Le Pen also spoke out against EU sanctions on Russian energy supplies and came under scrutiny during the campaign for her past friendliness with the Kremlin.
Supporters react after French President Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential election on the Champ de Mars in Paris April 24, 2022. Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images
A chorus of European leaders cheered Macron’s victory. “Democracy wins, Europe wins,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“Together we will advance France and Europe,” tweeted EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi hailed Macron’s victory as “great news for all of Europe” and a boost for the EU to “be a protagonist in the greatest challenges of our time, starting with the war in Ukraine”.
With more than three-quarters of the votes counted, Macron led 55% to 45% for Le Pen. Polling firms predicted that when all votes were counted, Macron’s winning margin would be well over 10 points, albeit smaller than when they first met in 2017.
Macron is the first French president to be re-elected in 20 years since incumbent Jacques Chirac beat up Le Pen’s father in 2002.
Le Pen called their results “a brilliant victory” and said that “with this loss I can’t help but feel a form of hope.”
Breaking the 40% threshold of the vote is unprecedented for the French far-right. Le Pen was beaten 66% to 34% by Macron in 2017 and her father received less than 20% against Chirac.
French President Emmanuel Macron exits the voting booth at a polling station in Le Touquet, France, Sunday April 24, 2022. Gonzalo Fuentes/AP
She and far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of 10 candidates eliminated in the first round on April 10, rushed Sunday night to push ahead of France’s June general election, urging voters to give them a parliamentary vote Giving majority to paralyze Macron.
Le Pen’s score this time rewarded her years of effort to make her far-right policies more palatable to voters. She campaigned intensely on cost-of-living issues, making deep inroads among working-class voters in disaffected rural communities and in former industrial centers.
The drop in support for Macron compared to five years ago points to an uphill battle ahead for the president to rally people behind him in his second term. Many French voters found the 2022 presidential rematch less compelling than 2017, when Macron was an unknown factor.
Left-wing voters – who identify neither with the centrist president nor with Le Pen’s strongly nationalist platform – often grappled with the choices available on Sunday. Some reluctantly rushed to the polls, only to stop Le Pen and cast cheerless votes for Macron.
“That was the least bad choice,” said Stephanie David, a transportation logistician who backed a communist candidate in the first round.
It was an impossible choice for pensioner Jean-Pierre Roux. After also voting communist in round one, he threw an empty envelope into the ballot box on Sunday, repelled by both Le Pen’s politics and Macron’s arrogance.
“I’m not against his ideas, but I can’t stand the person,” said Roux.
In contrast, Marian Arbre, who voted in Paris, cast his vote for Macron “to avoid a government that finds itself with fascists and racists.”
“There is a real risk,” said the 29-year-old.
Macron went into polls with a sizeable lead but faced a fragmented, fearful and weary electorate. The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic put a strain on Macron’s first term, as did months of violent protests against his economic policies.
Appealing to working-class voters struggling with rising prices, Le Pen pledged that lowering the cost of living would be their priority, arguing that Macron’s presidency has deeply divided the country.
Macron sought to appeal to immigrant voters and religious minorities, particularly over Le Pen’s proposed policies targeting Muslims and putting French citizens first in jobs and benefits. He also praised his environmental and climate accomplishments and hoped to attract young voters who had backed left-wing candidates in the first round.