PODCAST: Is France going far-right and is Macron panicking about petrol?
As the French presidential election campaign gets underway, join The Local France team and our guest experts including John Lichfield to examine the big questions of the campaign trail - is France moving inexorably towards the far right? What explains the geographical voting divide? And just how rich is Emmanuel Macron?
This week on Talking France, Ben McPartland is joined by Local France editor Emma Pearson, political columnist John Lichfield and political analyst Jean-Yves Camus as we examine the big questions facing France and its voters, ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
Click HERE to listen to Talking France on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.
Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the far right and a political analyst at France's Institute of International and Strategic Relations, told us: "I have always written that the Front National [Marine Le Pen's party] is here to stay as a significant political force, but it has no capability of coming to power.
"But what is new is Eric Zemmour, and if you add Le Pen and Zemmour's vote together you're up to 30 percent - that's huge."
As the French government moves to announce more help for drivers to deal with spiralling petrol costs, we asked John Lichfield whether the government appeared to be panicking over the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: "I think not panicking yet but floundering - it seems to be very difficult for the Finance Ministry to get its head around the issue of tax cuts."
Also this week, Ben and Emma dissect the latest news for the election campaigns and have a look at the déclarations de patrimonie - the startlingly detailed information that each candidate must reveal about their financial situation. Some candidates are into their overdrafts while one is worth a cool €10 million (and it might not be the one you think).
And we're looking at some French phrases to help you understand the elections, from crowd-baths to granny-hugging.
We will be releasing new episodes of this podcast every Tuesday. Click HERE to listen to Talking France on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.
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This week on Talking France, Ben McPartland is joined by Local France editor Emma Pearson, political columnist John Lichfield and political analyst Jean-Yves Camus as we examine the big questions facing France and its voters, ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
Click HERE to listen to Talking France on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.
Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the far right and a political analyst at France's Institute of International and Strategic Relations, told us: "I have always written that the Front National [Marine Le Pen's party] is here to stay as a significant political force, but it has no capability of coming to power.
"But what is new is Eric Zemmour, and if you add Le Pen and Zemmour's vote together you're up to 30 percent - that's huge."
As the French government moves to announce more help for drivers to deal with spiralling petrol costs, we asked John Lichfield whether the government appeared to be panicking over the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: "I think not panicking yet but floundering - it seems to be very difficult for the Finance Ministry to get its head around the issue of tax cuts."
Also this week, Ben and Emma dissect the latest news for the election campaigns and have a look at the déclarations de patrimonie - the startlingly detailed information that each candidate must reveal about their financial situation. Some candidates are into their overdrafts while one is worth a cool €10 million (and it might not be the one you think).
And we're looking at some French phrases to help you understand the elections, from crowd-baths to granny-hugging.
We will be releasing new episodes of this podcast every Tuesday. Click HERE to listen to Talking France on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.
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