Andrew Neil pinpoints reason why Macron's troubles have only just begun

Andrew Neil has explained why it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for French President Emmanuel Macron despite Marine Le Pen's hard right party suffering a shock loss.

France’s nationalist party National Rally took a beating yesterday following a surprise win for an alliance of left-wing groups.

The recently formed coalition The Popular Front managed to gain 182 seats, while President Macron's allies held onto 168 through an agreement to unite against the right in many seats. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally, which had led in the first round of voting, got 143 seats.

But despite kicking the National Rally into touch, the agreement between Macron's allies and the left-wing parties failed to deliver a majority in the parliamentary election for either grouping.

And, explains Mr Neil, this will mean nothing but turmoil for Macron and France.

Writing for the Daily Mail, Mr Neil said: “France voted yesterday for the political abyss.

“Far from making the hard Right the biggest party in parliament, as was widely expected, the French people gave first place, according to the exit polls, to the hard Left. Almost nobody saw it coming.”

“But no party or grouping got anywhere near an overall majority, which will make forming a stable government difficult if not impossible. The result is a recipe for confusion, chaos and weak government.”

Mr Neil says that the hard left group of “communists, Trots, Antifa-types and other agitators” has only just been thrown together and has formed a hotchpotch that Macron is going to struggle to form a coalition arrangement with.

The Popular Front is led by Melenchon and dominated by activists who “detest Macron” says Mr Neil.

Mr Neil added: “For all the celebrations on the Left, France now has a hung parliament, which condemns it to political paralysis or worse for the foreseeable future – a lame duck president and a parliament that will be so consumed by battles between hard Left and Right that coalition government will probably be impossible.”

All three main blocs are well short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said: "Our country is facing an unprecedented political situation and is preparing to welcome the world in a few weeks.”

He plans to offer his resignation today, Monday, July 8.

Attal conveyed his disapproval of Macron's shock decision to call the election, saying "I didn't choose this dissolution" of the outgoing National Assembly, where the president's centrist alliance used to be single biggest group, albeit without an absolute majority.