French researchers breathe sigh of relief as Macron re-elected

Far-right challenger Marine Le Pen’s programme was labelled anti-humanist by university leaders

Emmanuel Macron saw off Marine Le Pen in the second-round run-off of the French presidential election on 24 April, to secure five more years as the national leader after a late show of support from senior figures in academia.

Despite polls showing a narrowing gap between the two candidates in the days before, Macron won comfortably, garnering 58.5 per cent of the vote versus Le Pen’s 41.5 per cent. But the headline result masked an abstention of 28 per cent, the highest for a presidential run-off since 1969.