Cost of Living

The unusual feature of this round is the blurred target of the anger. A turnout in the hundreds of thousands alongside slogans aimed at political figures on opposite sides of the spectrum leaves the government unable to define its opponent, while handing the far right a ready-made narrative of failed order.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to French streets on October 18 in an anti-government protest that escalated into localised unrest, with clashes in Paris, Lyon and Marseille. President Macron rejected his interior minister’s resignation, called for calm and launched a national dialogue to address grievances over cost of living and pension policy.