The president said the decision was a “serious and heavy” one, but that he could not resign himself to the fact that “far-right parties … are progressing everywhere on the continent”.
Sunday’s dramatic move, however, is a huge gamble: Macron’s party could suffer yet more losses. However, most analysts predict that while the far-right party may emerge with more MPs, it will probably not win enough seats to give it a majority either – meaning the next parliament may be even messier and more ineffective than the current one.
It could be that he is looking at a neutralising “cohabitation effect”. If Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) were to score well and, for example, the party’s president, Jordan Bardella, were offered the job of prime minister, two and a half years in government may be just enough time to render the far right unpopular too.