Emmanuel Macron wins new term after far-right battle

Posted by & filed under .

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to begin efforts to unite a deeply divided nation after winning re-election on April 24 in a battle against rival Marine Le Pen that saw the far right come its closest yet to taking power. Centrist Macron won around 58.6 percent of the vote in the second-round run-off compared with Le Pen’s 41.4 percent, according to official results from the Interior Ministry. Macron is the first French president in two decades to win a second term, but his latest victory over his far-right rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017, when the margin was 66.1 percent to 33.9 percent.