How Boris Johnson’s victory helps Marine Le Pen

Boris Johnson may have received a lukewarm reaction from Emmanuel Macron to his emphatic election victory last month but one French politician was cock-a-hoop at the result. Shortly after the scale of the Conservative win was clear, Marine Le Pen tweeted her delight, declaring that ‘the crushing victory of Boris Johnson shows that neither manoeuvring nor intimidation can sway a people who have decided to take their destiny in their own hands.’

Other than finding the EU objectionable, Johnson and Le Pen have little in common and economically, the Frenchwoman’s desire to nationalise banks is more in line with Jeremy Corbyn’s worldview. But the triumph of the Conservative leader has been a tremendous fillip for her.

Like Johnson, Le Pen has had a rough couple of years. After the humiliation of her live television debate with Emmanuel Macron in May 2017, when she blew her slim chance of winning the presidential election, Le Pen went into political hibernation.