Good Morning! What an election weekend! Results of the French and Uk elections in, and not all were as expected! Next elections on the docket: US Presidental Election! So the election stories ain’t over yet!

Today’s headlines:

• French elections have a different outcome than expected 🇫🇷 

• Half of the seats, but not half of the votes 🇬🇧 

Have a great week!

Nils

FRANCE
Elections in France have an unexpected outcome

What Happened
In turn of events, a coalition of leftist parties known as the New Popular Front has won the most seats in France's parliamentary elections, according to projections based on early ballot counts. The coalition, which includes socialists, greens, and the far-left France Unbowed party, is expected to secure between 178 and 205 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly. President Emmanuel Macron's party and its allies are projected to win between 157 and 174 seats, while Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its allies are expected to finish with between 113 and 148 seats.

Why It Matters

• The New Popular Front's victory represents a stunning reversal of fortune for Le Pen's anti-immigrant party, which had scored an unprecedented win in the first round of voting just a week ago.

• The outcome is a testament to the effectiveness of the "republican front" strategy, in which the New Popular Front and Macron's ranks agreed to withdraw hundreds of third-place candidates to set up head-to-head matchups with Le Pen's candidates in the final round.

• The result leaves Macron facing the challenge of forming a government from a disparate group of parties united primarily by their opposition to the far-right, with less than three weeks to go before Paris hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics.

• The New Popular Front's agenda, which includes rolling back many of Macron's economic reforms and significantly increasing public spending, could have major implications for France's economy and public finances.

What's Next 
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of France Unbowed, has demanded that Macron give the New Popular Front a mandate to form a government and implement its agenda without compromise. He has also called for the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Macron, who has vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2027, must now navigate the complex task of cobbling together a functioning government from parties with divergent agendas. The outcome of these negotiations could have significant implications for France's economic and social policies in the coming years.