Were it not for Emmanuel Macron’s bombshell decision to dissolve the French parliament, the European parliament elections would have lived down to expectations: the usual low turnouts, unknown politicians, and used as a protest vote against incumbent governments.
Today’s headlines may be about the success of France’s National Rally – but across the continent, the far right underwhelmed. The centrists held on to their majority.
It would not have been an election that lived long in the memory, but the French president’s decision to respond by going to the polls has sent shockwaves through the country and the rest of Europe.