President Macron’s dramatic decision in early June to call legislative elections sent shockwaves through the political system in France and beyond. With support for the extreme right at its highest level since the foundation of the Fifth Republic, Macron’s gamble risks handing power to a party long seen as incompatible with republican values. Is the accession of Marine Le Pen’s deputy, the slick 28 year-old Jordan Bardella, to the office Prime Minister the most likely outcome or can Macron confound the polls and emerge from the elections revitalised? Can the proposed left-wing alliance overcome its internal divisions and offer a real alternative? Will the old Gaullist right survive the split over a possible alliance with the extreme right? What do the results of the first round of voting tell us? What government can we expect from the elections and how might it function?
To answer these questions and many more, we have assembled a crack team of experts on French politics and electoral history. Join Prof Dónal Hassett (Maynooth), Dr Elodie Fabre (Queens University Belfast) and Prof Emile Chabal (Edinburgh) for an online discussion on Monday July 1st, 14:00-15:00.
Dónal Hassett is Professor of History at Maynooth University. His works focus primarily on French colonial history. He has an active interest in French politics and has written for RTÉ Brainstorm and the Irish Examiner on the topic.
Dr Elodie Fabre is Lecturer in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queens University Belfast, where her research takes a comparative approach to the study of electoral politics, political parties, and democracy in Europe and Britain. She has published on the politics of Macronism and the transformation of the French political system.
Emile Chabal is Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh. He is interested in French and European political history. As well as producing a landmark general history of France since 1940, Emile has published on the contested concepts of nation, state and citizenship in France.