In a year when an unprecedented number of voters are already going to the polls, French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to add to election fever by dissolving parliament and calling a snap election.

This comes off the back of a crushing defeat at the European Parliamentary Elections at the hands of the National Rally, a far-right party led by 28 year old Jordan Bardella – the protégé of Populist figurehead Marine Le Pen.

This marks a pattern across Europe of far-right populist parties achieving huge momentum at the polls. No one felt this more acutely than chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrats Party received just 14% of the vote, leading to rumours of a snap election in Germany too.

Mr Macron has taken a strategic gamble, hoping to call the bluff of the French electorate, who he believes voted for the far-right National Rally in protest against the status quo, and perhaps hopes that by the time the presidential contest rolls around in 2027 they will have demonstrated their inability to function when actually in office.

Only time will tell whether this chess move pays off. In the meantime establishment parties across Europe will be waiting with bated breath.

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