The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
New president Macron vows to lead fresh start for France
Emmanuel Macron beats far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by big margin
Emmanuel Macron has said a “new page of our history” has opened after he defeated far-right populist Marine Le Pen to become France’s new president.
Voters delivered a resounding victory for the pro-European former investment banker, strengthening France’s place as a central pillar of the EU, and he immediately vowed to “defend France and Europe”.
He acknowledged divisions in society which drove people to “vote to the extreme”, and said he will work for all of France.
A crowd of Macron supporters roared with delight, jubilantly waving red, white and blue tricolour flags at a victory party outside the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Ms Le Pen said she had called the 39-year-old to concede defeat after voters rejected her “French-first” nationalism by a large margin.
Pollsters project Mr Macron won 65% of the vote to make him France’s youngest president in history.
Ms Le Pen’s projected 35% score was lower than her polling numbers earlier in the campaign, and dashed her hopes that the populist wave which swept Donald Trump into the White House would also carry her to France’s presidential Elysee Palace.
Mr Macron’s victory marks the third time in six months – following elections in Austria and Holland – that European voters shot down far-right populists who wanted to restore borders across Europe.
The election of a French president who championed European unity could also strengthen the EU’s hand in its complex divorce proceedings with Britain.
In a statement minutes after the last polls closed last night, French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced Mr Macron’s victory.
“(This) testifies to the lucidity of the voters who rejected the deadly project of the extreme right,” he said, adding that voters also showed they embrace the EU.
But many French voters backed Mr Macron reluctantly, not because they agree with his politics but simply to keep out Ms Le Pen and her far-right National Front.
After the most closely watched and unpredictable French presidential campaign in recent memory, many voters rejected the run-off choice altogether.
Pollsters project there were a record number of blank or spoiled ballots.