Emmanuel Macron has taken many risks in a political career marked by countless crises but his decision to call snap elections may be one too many, marring his legacy and ushering in an era of extremes.
The tremors from Macron dissolving the National Assembly after his centrist party suffered a drubbing in European polls remain strong, with even figures close to the president acknowledging unease over the political turmoil.
“It was the president who killed the presidential majority,” said former prime minister Edouard Philippe, an ally of Macron.
The far-right National Rally (RN) is tipped to win, potentially giving the party of Macron’s longtime rival Marine Le Pen the post of prime minister for the first time in a tense “cohabitation”.
Macron’s popularity has sunk to the extent that allies suggested he take a back seat in the campaign, with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal leading the way.
For one of Macron’s most loyal supporters, some of the resentment stems from his unexpected rise to the presidency.
“There’s a desire for revenge on the part of politicians who resent his success,” said Francois Patriat, head of the pro-Macron deputies in the upper house Senate.
Born in Amiens to two doctors, Macron met his future wife Brigitte when she was a teacher and 25 years his senior.
“He fell in love with his drama teacher when he was 16, and he said he was going to marry her, and then he married her. That’s pretty strong stuff,” said a former classmate from the elite graduate school ENA.
With that same self-confidence, he quit the government of former president Francois Hollande in August 2016 to prepare his run for the presidency, a risky move at the time.
He went on to create En Marche (On the Move), a political movement with the same initials as its leader and won the presidential election in 2017 at the age of 39.
