A shock election result in France

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Hello from London,

Welcome the news from France. It had been widely expected (including by me) that the far right would do very well in the legislative elections. And, yes, Marine Le Pen’s party has gained many more seats in parliament than they had before. But the parties of the left and centre, by working together on candidate selection, managed to keep the far right only in third place on Sunday. So breathe a sigh of relief—but also get ready for a prolonged period of bitter negotiations, attempts to build a ruling coalition and unstable politics in France.

In America Joe Biden says he’ll step aside only if there’s divine intervention. Having watched the president’s brief TV interview on Friday, I’m not at all reassured. Asked about his dire poll numbers, he flatly denied them. Asked if he’d submit to an independent assessment of his health, he brushed aside the question. Yes, he showed more energy and fluency in this short interaction than he had a week earlier, but that’s a low bar. Read our assessment of the interview.

As an atheist, I’m not betting on a decisive whisper from God. So who on Earth might intervene? Jill Biden, the First Lady and Mr Biden’s defender-in-chief, has influence but probably not the will. Donors to the Democrats might have some sway. Senior elected Democrats, such as a group of senators or governors, or a bigger group of congressmen, could yet start to tell. Meanwhile, keep an eye on our poll tracker to see how Mr Biden’s prospects are dimming against Donald Trump.

And if you are ready for a new podcast, I recommend our new one, “Boom”, which asks how it has come to pass that two men born in the 1940s are able to dominate American politics.

The leaders of Western countries gather in Washington to mark NATO’s 75th birthday this week. This is a moment to celebrate Mr Biden’s efforts to strengthen the alliance, most obviously in confronting Russian aggression. NATO has expanded, and military spending sharply risen on his watch. A colleague of mine speculates that this would be an ideal moment for Mr Biden to go out on an international high. I can only hope he is right.

Try your hand at our weekly Dateline quiz: we serve up five snippets from our archive. Your job is to guess the year of each one.

Iran, unusually, offers some welcome news. I hadn’t expected the reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, to win the presidential election on July 5th. He advocates talks with the West and—shock—letting women wear the clothes that they want to. Hold back judgment on him, as we wait to see what power he really is allowed to wield (the supreme leader has most sway, not the president), but this is encouraging.

Even more so, Britain has delivered a genuinely hopeful electoral outcome. The new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is a centrist, has a large parliamentary majority and—though not huge enthusiasm from the public—a clear mandate to take decisive steps to encourage growth and more. We have urged him to act boldly and soon. I’m watching, for example, to see if growth-constricting planning rules are relaxed. I remember the thrill and celebrations in London when Tony Blair was elected in 1997. Today is different, and the excitement is missing. But this is the most optimistic moment Britain has been able to enjoy in a long time.

Finally, I asked you last week for your thoughts on how to bolster moderate parties against extremists. Several of you, including Punit Sood from India, suggest Michelle Obama should be somehow drafted in as the Democratic candidate in America. She is certainly a popular figure, but I suspect that’s largely because she is so careful to avoid politics. Doru Macovei, in Romania, says centrists need to get better at crafting simple messages for voters who have short attention spans. And Florent Gardelle, in France, makes a similar point, observing that populists are great at promising the world but voters deserve some of the blame, for wilfully deceiving themselves by believing the impossible.

With the Republicans’ convention soon upon us, it’s time for Donald Trump to pick his running-mate. I’d like to know who you expect that to be and why (here’s our introduction to the leading contenders). Write to me at economisttoday@economist.com.

Adam Roberts, Digital editor

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