What if the polls get it right? Far right still in lead ahead of snap French elections

The Debate

Don't blink, or you'll have missed the shortest electoral campaign in the history of France’s Fifth Republic. Will nineteen days of canvassing have moved the needle since Emmanuel Macron's surprise dissolution of parliament on the night of the European elections? Not according to polls. They suggest the president may regret his decision to clear the air. The far right has never been closer to power since the Nazi collaborator regime of Vichy.

An even shorter sprint starts on Sunday night at 8pm local time, when the polls close in the first round of voting. France's legislative elections are actually 577 individual races that feature a second round the following week. What alliances could we see? What are the chances of an outright majority for Marine Le Pen's National Rally?

What message do citizens of the European Union's second-largest economy really want to send for a national contest … with worldwide consequences?

Produced by Siobhan Silke, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.