France felt like a different place yesterday after the far-right National Rally party won a record number of votes in the first round of snap elections. Frenetic campaigning has already begun for Sunday's runoff. Only 76 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly were won outright, leaving a fierce battle for the remaining seats this week.
The major question is whether the National Rally can secure an absolute majority after the runoff. If they do, President Emmanuel Macron will be compelled to appoint a political adversary as prime minister, potentially shifting domestic policy and complicating foreign policy. If not, the National Assembly will likely become ungovernable, with Macron’s centrist party and its allies squeezed between the right and the left.
The end of 'Macronism': The president’s seven-year dominance of national politics has been brought to an end, writes my colleague Roger Cohen in an analysis.
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