The great joy and the big phew of the supporters of Emmanuel Macron

• Emmanuel Macron achieves a relatively unexpected score of 28% on the evening of the first round.

  His supporters did not hide their relief.

• But the equation of the second round remains intact while the vote reserves seem to the left.

• It will go through more ground and it will start on Monday in Hauts-de-France.

At the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center (Paris)

The smiles were clearly not acquired at the start of the evening, at Emmanuel Macron's HQ, Porte de Versailles, in Paris.

The atmosphere was probably not feverish, but still a little worried.

So when the estimates for the first round of this presidential election began to arrive on cellphones around 7:45 p.m. – and giving a hot score for the candidate president – ​​some people let out a big phew.

And then finally, at 8 p.m., the great joy.

With 27.6% of the vote (at 11:00 p.m., Emmanuel Macron widens a clear gap with Marine Le Pen, his competitor in the second round. "It's a good result. And it's even a very good result for an outgoing, with a good turnout,” notes MEP Nathalie Loiseau.

The time is not however to celebrate: "We are in humility and pride, a little at the same time", smiles a minister obviously relieved.

And now ?

Everyone, and Emmanuel Macron himself, insists on the fact that the election is not acquired on April 24.

“We are going to have to assert the coherence of our project: the fight against unemployment is us, the ecology is us, Europe is us”, insists the spokesperson Maud Bregeon.

Against Marine Le Pen, elected officials and ministers all claim to want to avoid a moralizing campaign.

“It will be project against project, still proclaims the walker.

We have to show that under a more or less successful make-up, she hasn't changed that much.

»

Talking to Mélenchon voters

After having completely dried up the traditional right (Valérie Pécresse does not obtain 5%), it is nevertheless clear that the reserves of votes are on the left: 32% of the votes, five points more than in 2017. And with a Mélenchon at 22%, we are quite far from Emmanuel Macron.

Of course, in general, macronists are reluctant to divide the electorate between right and left.

But MP Pierre Person is a little clearer: “We will have to think about how to speak to the popular electorate who voted Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Because what can change the situation compared to 2017 are the potential reports of its voters on Marine Le Pen ”.

“We have to take this protest vote into account.

Probably by finding even more time to campaign.

Let everyone feel that Emmanuel Macron is for everyone, ”says Nathalie Loiseau.

It will be necessary to plow it, this ground: after the speech of Emmanuel Macron arrived the first polls for the second round: 54% at Ipsos but 51% for Ifop in his favor.

There is indeed work to do for the president-candidate.

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• Presidential election 2022

• Emmanuel Macron

• The Republic on the March (LREM)

• Elections

• Versailles

• Ile-de-France