Emmanuel Macron’s tricky second term

HAD EMMANUEL MACRON faced six parliamentary attempts to topple his government in a fortnight during his first presidential term, it would have felt like a political insurrection. Yet this autumn, six months after the French president was re-elected and then lost his parliamentary majority, this is what has just happened. Of the six no-confidence motions, instigated by opposition parties between October 19th and November 2nd, none secured the 289 votes needed for the government to fall. But they point to the trouble Mr Macron is facing without control of parliament, as he tries to gain traction with policymaking in his second term.