Europe | France’s parliamentary election

Emmanuel Macron faces heavy losses after a short campaign

The next French government may be led by the hard right or hard left

Jordan Bardella, President of the French far-right National Rally.
Photograph: Reuters
|PARIS

As France’s flash parliamentary-election campaign officially got under way this week, Emmanuel Macron’s centrist candidates were pounding the streets, trying to put on a brave face. After days handing out flyers, one deputy standing for re-election concedes that campaigning is “extremely tough”. Another describes the president’s decision to call a snap legislative election as “idiotic”. Many are preparing to pack their bags. “He has thrown us under a bus,” says a minister.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Out ahead”

From the June 22nd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Europe

Illustrtion of soldiers looking silly.

Meet Europe’s Gaullists, Atlanticists, denialists and Putinists

As Donald Trump returns, so do Europe’s old schisms over how to defend itself

A border officer sleeping on the barrier with a protest in the background.

Inside Europe, border checks are creeping back

Voters and politicians are worried about unauthorised migrants



A day of drama in the Bundestag

Friedrich Merz, Germany’s probable next chancellor, takes a huge bet and triggers uproar

Amid talk of a ceasefire, Ukraine’s front line is crumbling

An ominous defeat in the eastern town of Velyka Novosilka

The French government’s survival is now in Socialist hands

Moderates attempt to move away from the radicals