'Death of the French left': why voters are hesitating over Macron

Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to beat Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French presidential election. Political figures from the mainstream left and right have rallied behind him in order to block the far-right Front National candidate, who they warn is a danger to French democracy.

But the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who won 19% of the first-round vote, has not taken a firm position or directed his followers which way to vote. What they decide to do will be crucial to the final tally for Macron, a pro-business economic liberal.

Macron topped the first-round poll with 23.8%, but Eurosceptic candidates including Mélenchon made their strongest gains ever, winning more than 46% of the vote. Almost half of voters supported candidates who criticised free-market global capitalism.
We asked left-leaning voters how they feel about the remaining two candidates, and whether they’ll back Macron. Here’s what they said.

Macron’s politics will only bring more social injustice, and help the Front National get even bigger

Eddy, 39, Dijon, local government officer

I voted for Mélenchon because he was the only one whose programme brought some hopes for social issues and the environment. I will definitely not vote for Le Pen, but I’m not sure I will vote for Macron. His politics will only bring more social injustice, and help the Front National get even bigger.

Macron’s politics will only be even more economically liberal. And nothing new. But everyone seems to be happy: the media, the big companies, banks and Germany.

French people are tired of politicians, the two old parties. I suppose they think they voted for something new, which they actually did not.

I want the EU to focus more on people and less on banks and big companies. The main problem is politicians who work for the big companies and the finance system, asking people to make efforts they don’t do. They say the liberal system is the only possibility, yet if you share more fairly you won’t have so much misery, and so much racism.

I don’t know how to vote yet.

Macron will keep the status quo, and will be the puppet of the industrial and corporate lobbies

Clement, 33, London, father of two

I feel quite disappointed, but really not surprised. Firstly because Le Pen is in the second round and secondly because Macron is a marketing product full of vacuities. He is very likely to be the next French president and carry on the liberal politics that have caused so much damage to so many and are partly the reason for the French voting far-right.

Macron will keep the status quo, and will be the puppet of the industrial and corporate lobbies that intoxicate our democracy. No wonder the Germans and financial markets are so excited today.

I feel cornered, like it is the death of the French left

Camille, 33, illustrator

I see Marine Le Pen as a picture of hell and Macron as a capitalist marketing product. I am in hell.

I see Emmanuel Macron as too rightwing for me, but I hope he will win to avoid Marine Le Pen becoming president. I will basically choose the lesser of two evils.

The only positive aspect of Macron winning will be that it will not be Marine Le Pen. On the top of her horrible programme, we don’t need another Eurosceptic who will separate us even more from our country than the Brexit already has.

I wanted to vote Mélenchon, but his view of Europe put me off and I ended up casting a ballot for [Benoît] Hamon. I am not happy at all about Hollande’s and Valls’ work in the past five years, but Hamon proposed something new. And he believed in Europe.

Brexit makes me sick and the anxiety it triggered among French citizens living in the UK is something that I do not wish to happen to anyone else.

I feel cornered, like it is the death of the French left.

At least he will not mess up too much

Pierre, 25, London, designer

I want Emanuel Macron to win, obviously. I did not vote for him in the first round, I voted for Mélenchon. But I can’t imagine my country led by someone like Marine Le Pen, who is outdated and wants a France back as it used to be in 70s. She has no vision of a future and development with all the new main changes that will happen in the world, and has a vision of an isolated France.

I don’t think Macron will be better than Hollande or other presidents. At least he will not mess up too much, and hopefully we will be able to remain “proud” of our country.

I absolutely do not want to see France leave the EU. We are going through an era when countries want to split. We have to avoid that.

He can only be immeasurably less negative than Marine Le Pen

Angela, 75, Brittany, retired bio-mathematician

I chose Hamon, hoping that Macron would make the second round without my vote. I have some reservations about Emmanuel Macron. Only time will tell whether or to what extent he will be positive for France. But he can only be immeasurably less negative than Marine Le Pen.

The problems with France? Alienation of young people in the banlieues, notably but not only second generation immigrants and Muslims who feel they have no future, caused or exacerbated by high unemployment and incipient racism.

The Front National would be an unmitigated disaster for France, Europe and maybe the world.