"Britain and France do not share a fixed quota of political stability such that reduced volatility on one side of the Channel causes chaos across the water. It was just a coincidence that Keir Starmer won a huge majority at precisely the moment last July when legislative elections made France ungovernable for Emmanuel Macron. It was a misfortune for both men, and for Europe, that their political trajectories were out of sync."
"He dissolved the national assembly last summer because he imagined fresh elections would focus moderate French minds on the threat posed by the far-right National Rally (RN), which had recently triumphed in European elections. He was right, up to a point. Millions of voters did mobilise to deny RN a majority, but to the benefit of leftwing parties that despise the president."
Britain experienced a seismic political shift when voters endorsed Brexit, culminating in a years-long national upheaval that reshaped party politics. France underwent parliamentary turmoil after Emmanuel Macron dissolved the national assembly, triggering elections that empowered leftwing and far-right parties while depleting centrists. Both crises stemmed from leaders' overconfidence and miscalculated bets on voters' reactions: David Cameron, Theresa May, and Macron all gambled on electoral responses and lost parliamentary control. Macron attempted to form governments from a depleted pool of loyal centrists, defying parliamentary arithmetic and conventions. The timing left Britain recovering as France entered prolonged governmental paralysis, straining European stability.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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