Emmanuel Macron’s re-election as French president is welcome news for France, Europe, the transatlantic alliance and liberal democracy. Macron comfortably defeated far-right challenger Marine Le Pen and is the first French president to be re-elected since Jacques Chirac in 2002. He has now established himself as Europe’s most powerful leader at a time when the EU needs both strong leadership and unity. We must remember that, without France (or Germany) there is no Europe, so a lot was at stake in this election. It is important first to look at the results of the first round of voting and what the implications are for France. The results were as follows: Macron (Liberal, centrist), 27.84 per cent; Le Pen (far right), 23.15 per cent; Jean-Luc Mélenchon (France Unbowed, far-left), 21.95 per cent; Eric Zemmour (extreme right), 7.07 per cent; Valérie Pécresse (Republican, centre-right), 4.78 per cent; Yannick Jadot (Green), 4.63 per cent; Jean Lassalle (centrist), 3.13 per cent; Fabien Roussel (Communist), 2.28 per cent; Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Gaullist), 2.06 per cent; Anne Hidalgo (Socialist), 1.75 per cent; Phillippe Poutou (far left) 0.77; Nathalie Arthaud (Trotskyist, far left),...