Emmanuel Macron’s gamble has set off a political comedy of errors that has almost put BoJo and Trump in a less-incompetent light

France has gone a bit bonkers. In the European elections barely a week ago, the anti-immigration Rassemblement National won so hugely that President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the national assembly and called a snap election. It was widely seen as a wild gamble. Well, not that wild in that, win or lose, the intrepid Emmanuel will keep his job, since it is not a presidential election.

Macron is betting that either the left and centre will unite and prevent the far right from winning, or that the far right wins the election and faces an uncomfortable two years in office cohabiting with Macron. The hope would be that a brief brush with executive power would expose the incompetence of the extremists.