Dr Bertrand Bourgeois speaks in-depth about the snap French elections for the National Assembly (lower house) called by President Emmanuel Macron. With the far-right National Rally (led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella) leading in the polls, closely followed by the far left coalition, the New Popular Front (comprising 'La France Insoumise' or France Unbowed, the Greens, Communists, and Socialists), and Macron’s centrist coalition Ensemble, including his Renaissance party coming in third – was it a miscalculated gamble to go early? Why is Jean-Luc Mélenchon such a polarising figure? What do the parties and coalition's stand for and why is the far-right becoming “mainstream” in France? Dr Bertrand Bourgeois is a Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. Broadcast on 25 June 2024.