Emmanuel Macron

The architect of France's current political crisis, Macron's snap election gamble in June 2024 produced a hung parliament that made France ungovernable. His centrist project is squeezed between a resurgent left and an increasingly powerful National Rally, while his international standing on Ukraine has grown as US support faltered.

Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron was born on December 21, 1977, in Amiens. A graduate of Sciences Po and ENA, he served as an investment banker at Rothschild before joining the Hollande government as Economy Minister in 2014. He founded his own political movement En Marche (now Renaissance) in 2016 and won the presidency in 2017, defeating Marine Le Pen. Reelected in 2022 against Le Pen again, his second term has been defined by pension reform protests and political fragmentation.