PODCAST: Could Marine Le Pen become the next French president?
With less than a week to go until polling day, the new episode of Talking France looks at the 'Le Pen surge' in polling and analyses whether she can really win - and what a President Marine Le Pen would mean for France, and for Europe.
Ben McPartland is joined by Local France editor Emma Pearson, plus veteran columnist John Lichfield and political analyst Mujtaba Rahman to look at the latest twist in the French presidential election.
With the first round of voting on Sunday, far-right leader Marine Le Pen appears to be closing in on incumbent Emmanuel Macron - but do the latest polls tell the full story?
Listen HERE or find the Talking France podcast on Spotify or Apple.
John Lichfield told us: "Accidents can happen - Macron's support may not turn out, the left may abstain in huge quantities and it's just possible now to imagine Le Pen winning, which it was not, I don't think, until now.
"I've said all along that I think Macron will win, now I have a slight doubt - but only a slight doubt. I still think Macron will win."
And we're also joined by political analyst Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia group to look at why France's election is important to Europe and the wider world, and whether a far-right president of France would really spell the end of the EU.
He said: "A far-right president for France, Marine Le Pen or someone like her, would be the end of the European project as we know it.
"A figure like this in the Elysée would be constrained by parliament, but as the French head of state would attend the European Council and has a tremendous amount of discretion and agency to do lots of things that the rest of Europe would be very concerned about.
"It would be a profound shock and an existential crisis for the European Union."
We're taking a look at what actually happens on polling day and how France produces its accurate early results in the 8pm announcement.
And as ever, we're looking at some French phrases to help you understand the election, from disentangling Macron's obscure phrases to explaining why you might want to tell a French person that your ass is a chicken.
You can find all previous episodes of the Talking France podcast HERE, or on Spotify or Apple.
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Ben McPartland is joined by Local France editor Emma Pearson, plus veteran columnist John Lichfield and political analyst Mujtaba Rahman to look at the latest twist in the French presidential election.
With the first round of voting on Sunday, far-right leader Marine Le Pen appears to be closing in on incumbent Emmanuel Macron - but do the latest polls tell the full story?
Listen HERE or find the Talking France podcast on Spotify or Apple.
John Lichfield told us: "Accidents can happen - Macron's support may not turn out, the left may abstain in huge quantities and it's just possible now to imagine Le Pen winning, which it was not, I don't think, until now.
"I've said all along that I think Macron will win, now I have a slight doubt - but only a slight doubt. I still think Macron will win."
And we're also joined by political analyst Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia group to look at why France's election is important to Europe and the wider world, and whether a far-right president of France would really spell the end of the EU.
He said: "A far-right president for France, Marine Le Pen or someone like her, would be the end of the European project as we know it.
"A figure like this in the Elysée would be constrained by parliament, but as the French head of state would attend the European Council and has a tremendous amount of discretion and agency to do lots of things that the rest of Europe would be very concerned about.
"It would be a profound shock and an existential crisis for the European Union."
We're taking a look at what actually happens on polling day and how France produces its accurate early results in the 8pm announcement.
And as ever, we're looking at some French phrases to help you understand the election, from disentangling Macron's obscure phrases to explaining why you might want to tell a French person that your ass is a chicken.
You can find all previous episodes of the Talking France podcast HERE, or on Spotify or Apple.
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