Even if Germany had Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system, Angela Merkel would be struggling this morning to form a government. With 33 per cent of the vote, her Christian Democrat and Christian Social alliance has suffered its weakest showing in 68 years – tempered only by the equal failure of the socialists. It might have been a moment for Emmanuel Macron to seize the crown of de facto leader of Europe were it not that he, too, suffered a lower-profile though no less significant electoral reversal over the weekend – in Senate elections the La Republique En Marche party won only 23 of the 171 seats up for grabs. With his popularity ratings plummeting and his labour market reforms hardly begun, the Macron bubble has well and truly been burst.
What a difference from the summer, when Theresa May was fresh from her general election embarrassment and the EU’s other main national leaders were experiencing a new-found burst of confidence.
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