Five reasons why Macron won the French election

Source: BBC News:

May 8, 2017 at 09:15

Emmanuel Macron has triggered a political earthquake in French politics.

A year ago, he was a member of the government of one of the most unpopular French presidents in history.

Now, at 39, he has won France's presidential election, defeating first the mainstream centre left and centre right and now the far right as well.

He got lucky

No doubt about it, Mr Macron was carried to victory in part by the winds of fortune.

A public scandal knocked out the initial frontrunner, centre-right candidate François Fillon; and Socialist candidate Benoît Hamon, already on the left fringe of the party, suffered a very public drubbing as traditional voters looked elsewhere.

Francois Fillon, member of the Republicans political party and 2017 French presidential election candidate of the French centre-right, speaks after being defeated in the first round of the election, on 23 April 2017 — REUTERS
A "fake jobs" scandal put paid to the hopes of the early election frontrunner, François Fillon

"He was very lucky, because he was facing a situation that was completely unexpected," says Marc-Olivier Padis, of Paris-based think tank Terra Nova.

He was canny

Luck doesn't tell the whole story.

Mr Macron could have gone for the Socialist ticket, but he realised after years in power and dismal public approval ratings the party's voice would always struggle to be heard.

"He was able to foresee there was an opportunity when nobody could," says Mr Padis.

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