In a year already so saturated with closely watched and fought elections across the globe, it was perhaps tempting to pay little attention in the run up to the UK’s general election and the second round of France’s parliamentary elections last week.
It all seemed a foregone conclusion: in the UK, polls were all but certain of a decisive Labour triumph, and in France, the far-right National Rally (RN) seemed closer than ever to clinching victory once again, having swept to a first-place finish in the first round of President Macron’s snap elections.
I was in Paris on assignment for CNN for both rounds, and witnessed large crowds take to the streets and fill the iconic Place de la République as results trickled in each time – the first time in backlash against the RN, chanting anti-fascist slogans, and the second time in celebration of what turned out to be a stunning bounce back of the leftist alliance.
What people do know is that their cost of living is going up again and again, and that they want change
In between, I covered the UK elections where, as predicted, the left also triumphed with a Labour Party landslide.
In both cases, you can’t underestimate what happened. Both countries have essentially remade their political landscapes and will now face an increasingly combustible world with a new political reality at home and, in the case of the UK, with entirely new leadership. There was undeniable relief felt all around for anyone outside of the far right and bent on keeping populists out of power.
Both winning factions worked the system: with only a third of the British vote, Labour won two thirds of the seats in parliament, and in France, the moderates and leftist alliance agreed which seats to contest in the final round to squeeze out the hard right.
It worked, but I’d argue they shouldn’t relax now.
Both are big countries whose roles on the global stage can’t be overlooked. But CNN committed to extensive special programming of both elections not just because of this, but because the results point to the increasingly outsize importance of global themes such cost of living and security – and to who seems to be addressing these issues the most head on in most voters’ eyes.
To put it straight: in both France and the UK, far-right parties had their best showing of the postwar period.
The RN – led by Marine Le Pen – won 182 parliamentary seats and looks set to become the country’s official opposition for the first time. It will now be a legitimate thorn in the side of President Macron’s, who now presides over a deadlocked parliament where far-right policies will become more central to legislative debate.
In the UK, while Nigel Farage’s populist right-wing Reform UK party may have won only five seats, it far exceeded polling expectations and its total vote share of 14 per cent which means it, too, could become a veritable opposition with a big say in defining the Conservative movement in Britain going forward, shaping key political debates in the UK from Brexit to border control. It is in the conversation now in a way it hasn't previously been.
Mr Farage and Ms Le Pen’s mantras echo through similar growing movements in all of Europe’s major economies and across the Atlantic to the US, where former president Donald Trump continues to power ahead in the polls against an increasingly embattled President Joe Biden.
An MP from Mr Macron’s centrist Renaissance party who was lucky enough to be re-elected, conceded to me that we may come to look back on the 2024 French election as a triumph for the far right.
It is gaining all the time – incrementally, but persistently.
Over the past 10 years, populist voices have emerged from the shadows into the mainstream and are increasingly translating into tangible votes and real power. This had already happened in the European parliamentary elections this year but we now see it translating into national votes in major EU countries
If the rise of the far right continues its current trajectory, it seems all but certain that it will develop into a dominant force in major western powerhouses in the coming years, unless centrist and leftist parties are able to stop their own rot.
So the question then becomes: how do they do that?
The overwhelming impression I’ve got from reporting on and in both of these countries is that it isn’t really about politics any more. You see this in the historically low voter turnout in the UK election, and you see it in the growing crop of Macron detractors in all spheres of French society.
So many people have lost faith in incumbents and in the powers that be, that they’ve tuned out of the whole left-right debate entirely. Voters are not as loyal to parties – the fragmentation of the vote across a number of groups, especially in France, makes that much clear.
What people do know is that their cost of living is going up again and again, and that they want change. They have shown in these elections that they will sway to the political grouping that has the clearest answers.
Far-right parties such as RN and Reform UK now find themselves in an opportune position: able to speak directly to these struggles of disgruntled voters from the sidelines, and crucially, without facing the accountability that those in charge do. There is an advantage to being the perpetual outsider, and it’s a role figures such as Mr Farage and Ms Le Pen relish.
In this way, I see the results of the past week as marking part of a process rather than an end. The outcomes of both the UK and France’s elections are a game-changer not only because of who is now in charge, but because of who is now left waiting in the wings.
Max Foster is a CNN correspondent and anchor of the daily current affairs programme CNN Newsroom with Max Foster. He is based in London.
RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
- Use a considered collection of prints and artworks that work together to form a cohesive journey.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Company%C2%A0profile
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Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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