So there you have it. Next year’s French presidential election will be contested between the hard Right and the far Right; between the no holds barred free-marketeer Francois Fillon, who has just won the republican nomination, and the Neo-Fascist Marine Le Pen. It is a catastrophe of democracy, an argument for the withdrawal of the franchise from the plebs, who have proved themselves utterly unworthy of the vote, stupid racists that they are.

That is the narrative that is now being spun in some quarters in France, where a demoralised Socialist party – its leader ridiculed, its support in tatters – is looking for answers to its great collapse. But the story they are telling themselves could not be more wrong.

For a start, it features traditional characters cast in a traditional plot – where politicians of Left to Right slug it out against each other until their champions from the centre ground vie for victory. Not this time.

This time the fringes are flourishing. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has just been endorsed by the Communist Party, is predicted handsomely to beat François Hollande, France’s centre-Left president, in the first round of next year’s presidential polls – if Hollande even stands. Fillon himself will get less support than Le Pen before the two of them go head-to-head in the second, decisive round of voting.

Mélenchon is often described as Marine Le Pen’s “rival”, as though the pair were locked in some Newtonian experiment, in which any political action by the one leads to an equal and opposite reaction by the other. This may be comforting for those on the “progressive” Left, for whom Le Pen is the very devil. But it is not true. Mélenchon is fiercely anti-free market, cherishing the rights and welfare of those in what he calls his “workers movement”. Marine le Pen too is a heartfelt protectionist promising to defend workers benefits. Both loathe the EU.

David Fuller's view

I don’t think many French citizens will miss Hollande. 

France is the military power within the EU’s ruling alliance with Germany.  However, in every other aspect of this relationship, France is now more than ever the junior partner due to its weak economy. 

Angela Merkel’s influence within the EU is theoretically stronger than ever.  Nevertheless, given the populist outrage sweeping across the West, her prospects for a fourth consecutive election victory are far from certain.  In fact, they may be decided by events currently unfolding in Italy and France.  Merkel will not escape blame for the EU’s failure.    

Here is a PDF of The Telegraph's article.