Emmanuel Macron is the eighth and the youngest president of the Fifth Republic, winning an estimated 65pc of the vote in the second round of voting. It caps an astonishing rise for the 39-year-old former investment banker who only founded his En Marche! party in April last year.
The news was greeted with delirium by his many supporters who had gathered throughout the day at the place des Pyramides at the Louvre in the centre of Paris in expectation of victory.
There was never likely to be any upset with the polls predicting a comfortable Macron win from the moment he and Marine Le Pen finished first and second in the first round of voting a fortnight ago. The last poll on Friday, before campaigning officially ended, put Macron on 61.5pc and Le Pen on 38.5pc.
The fact that the National Front leader polled fewer votes than predicted will be greeted with joy by her political opponents although her 34pc share of the vote [more than 10m voters] represents the biggest electoral gain in the far right’s history.
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