Implode-o-Meter News - Outsiders "Storm Bastille" in France: Macron and Le Pen Take Lead (Respectively); Will Face-Off

The storming of the Bastille in 1789 sets the bar high. As a result, few phrases should be used with more circumspection than "French revolution". But the result of the first round of France's 2017 presidential election is an epochal political upheaval for France all the same. For the first time in the nearly 60-year history of the Fifth Republic the second-round contest on 7 May will be between two outsider candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. Neither of the candidates of the established parties of left and right will be in the runoff. Whichever of the second-round candidates emerges as the winner in two weeks' time, France is set upon a new political course, with major implications for itself and for the rest of Europe.
The defeat of the established parties is a humiliation for modern French party politics of left and right. The Socialist candidate BenoÃ®t Hamon, representing the party of the outgoing president FranÃ§ois Hollande, received a mere 6.2% of the votes, according to early estimates. The conservative candidate FranÃ§ois Fillon, carrier of the tarnished Gaullist baton, did better, with 19.7%. Yet this is the first time that an official centre-right candidate has failed to get into the second round since General de Gaulle created modern France in 1958. Given the scandals about his use of public funds, it was remarkable that Mr Fillon did so well. Even so, between them Mr Hamon and Mr Fillon took only a quarter of the votes. Instead three French voters out of four, in a turnout of 78%, voted for change.

Le Pen is projected to have pulled 21.9%, and Macron 23.7%, making him the favorite. However, anything can happen as the remaining votes (a majority) are re-allocated... and a lot can happen between now and May 7th.

Relevant:

Outsiders "Storm Bastille" in France: Macron and Le Pen Take Lead (Respectively); Will Face-Off