The far-right leader leaves behind a less welcoming, less tolerant France – that is perhaps ready to elect Marine Le Pen as president

I once asked Jean-Marie Le Pen, during 1992 regional elections, about the National Front’s (FN) slogan Quand nous arriverons, ils partiront, which roughly translates as “When we get in, they’ll get out”. Who, I asked Le Pen, did he mean by “they”? He would not answer directly but drew complicit laughter from supporters by saying: “Everyone here but you knows what that means.”

The extreme-right rabble rouser may finally be dead at 96 after a long, incendiary political career, but those nationalist anti-immigration ideas are alive and kicking in 21st-century France.

Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre