President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance came in second, preventing the far right from taking power. The stakes couldn’t have been higher, and it is hard to overstate the sense of urgency with which French voters flocked to the polls. It ought to be noted, however, that under half of centrist voters went for the left in a run-off against the far right. Many had assumed that it was a foregone conclusion that the far right would win a majority, absolute or otherwise. On all those occasions, and again last week, many held their noses and voted for the center to keep the far right in check.

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Persons: Marie Le Conte, Read, —, Emmanuel Macron’s, who’d, Le Pen Organizations: CNN, Front, Greens, Ensemble, National Assembly, Rassemblement, Twitter, Facebook Locations: French, Moroccan, London, British, Vichy, France