President Barnier would be a disaster for Britain

An arrogant, aloof, wordy, pro-EU centrist drawn from the same narrow elite that has dominated the country for decades. It’s not that hard to see how French voters might choose to replace Emmanuel Macron with Michel Barnier. Apart from the fact he is older, his hair is greyer, and his wife is slightly younger, it is quite hard to tell the difference between them. 

Even so, the veteran politician has this week launched his candidacy for next year’s presidential election, vying to become the centre-right challenger to the incumbent. Who knows, he might even win. Macron is hardly popular and if any candidate other than Marine Le Pen can make it into the second round they are in with a chance of victory. After all, no French president has been re-elected since Jacques Chirac in 2002, and there is no reason to imagine the current holder of the office can break that record.