Letters: far right win was a shock but no surprise - like Brexit

To the Editor

I am British and have lived in France for 27 years, and have had French citizenship for the last four. 

I have since voted in municipal, presidential and legislative elections, and recently in the European ones. I have worked here but am now retired on my husband's UK pension.

When Emmanuel Macron was first elected, it seemed as though something very good was happening in France. 

He broke with the old, stale, dead-in-the-water party system, while winning over, listening to and keeping the best from all sides of it. He also was strong on and in Europe, and his commitment on climate change and the green transition seemed serious and real.

My admiration has waned somewhat. 

I was disappointed that he formed, and apparently put much energy into, the Citizens Convention for Climate, which did such potentially good work, then simply dropped and ignored it.

He has made other mistakes, seems to listen less and I think he has moved too much to the right, perhaps to win over some of the populist, RN vote, which I'm not comfortable with.

I voted for him in the last presidential election, however, I have to accept the fact that Macron is intensely unpopular, cannot stand again as president anyway, and the country must move on. 

Some have said that this is simply what the 5th Republic does with its presidents: swallows them eagerly, then chews them up and spits them out in disgust.

It was a shock (while not really a surprise) to wake up after the European elections to find the maps of even our dear old, hitherto populist-resistant Brittany, all gone horrible RN dark blue, comparable to the feeling after the Brexit vote.

I found I was looking at our friends and neighbours with bewilderment and suspicion, and am still obsessively reading and listening to everything I can to try to understand, while finding it very difficult to broach the subject or really engage in any conversations with anyone about the matter. 

Life goes on apparently normally, but there are a lot of elephants in rooms.

I imagine I will probably vote for the new EELV candidate in the first round

But, I don't know about the Front Populaire. 

It's a fragile, stretched and unhappy alliance and I really don't want to touch anything to do with Mélenchon with a bargepole. 

In the end, though, I will have to vote against the even greater evil of the Rassemblement Nationale. Giving them any more power would be catastrophic. 

Lucy Kempton, by email

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