Macron and Barnier chase the nationalist vote

For centrists of a certain age, few names are more likely to tug the heartstrings than Emmanuel Macron and Michel Barnier. In the halcyon days of 2017, the two Frenchman seemed the epitome of all that was chic, calm and above all rational: the former a fresh-faced Élysée outsider who made moderation great again; the latter a silver-haired successor to the tradition of Talleyrand as the EU’s Brexit negotiator.

But four years is a long time in politics and both men have undergone something of a transformation. Plagued by protests and the pandemic, Macron has shelved much of his ambitious reform programme, embarking instead on populist crowd-pleasers as fears have grown over immigration and security. Ahead of next May’s contest, he holds an average of 26.1 per cent first-round preferences, with Marie Le Pen and Eric Zemmour breathing down his neck in second and third respectively. Thus, with six months to go, the great white hope of Europhilia has drastically changed tack.