The decisive round of the presidential race in France revealed it to be a deeply fractured country. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and inflationary pressures may have helped Macron to rally older people, already concerned about the threat to political stability posed by Marine Le Pen. Among working-age citizens, Macron and Le Pen were evenly matched in the polls. As for French voters who left school without a bacc, Le Pen won with 56% of their votes. Le Pen meanwhile prevailed in “peripheral” France, in other words in the small towns, rural municipalities and declining former heavy industrial belts.

Source: The Guardian April 28, 2022 13:19 UTC