The big question to be answered in this Sunday’s second round of France’s regional elections is at one level very simple: does anyone care who wins?
France’s regional assemblies – reconfigured in 2015 – are important. They take key decisions on schools, public transport and economic development. What they do ought to matter, yet the message that came across after last Sunday’s first round of voting was that the French weren’t much bothered who is in charge. Just one third of the 48 million-strong electorate bothered to take part, rendering the result, in terms of who looks best placed to win next year’s presidential elections, less convincing than the latest monthly opinion poll.
Tricky road ahead for Michel Barnier, France’s new Prime Minister
Barnier faces an uphill battle to command cross-party support in France’s bitterly divided hung parliament.