Anger over the cost of living that blindsided Emmanuel Macron early in his five-year term is simmering again, turning this Sunday’s face-off with nationalist leader Marine Le Pen for the French presidency into a much closer contest.
Inflation hasn’t been this strong in France since the 1980s and surveys show that making ends meet is the top concern of voters, well above worries about health and security. Macron preempted the risk to his reelection by spending vast sums earlier this year to cap power prices for households, but Le Pen has gone full throttle campaigning on what the French call their “spending power.”
