Shock and gamble are the two words most frequently being used in newsrooms across France and Europe after French President Emmanuel Macron announced snap parliamentary elections. The first round will be held in less than three weeks' time, leaving political parties struggling to work out how to tackle such a short campaign. Macron made his announcement after the far-right National Rally scored over 30 percent of the vote in the European elections in France – twice as much as any other party there. In Perspective, we spoke to Andrew Smith, a French modern history expert and lecturer in liberal arts at Queen Mary University of London.