Ahead of the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday, this special newsletter pulls together highlights from our coverage of the campaign. In this week’s cover leader, we argue that Emmanuel Macron is still the best option for France. But we worry that he has failed to curb the rise of populist forces while in office, which should trouble champions of liberal centrist politics the world over. It has been a turbulent time to be president, and I have long thought that Mr Macron is one of the most misunderstood French leaders. After following him for three days in Marseille, a vibrant crossroads of cultures and tongues, I wrote this long profile to try to capture the contradictions and complexities of the man behind the suit. 

One theme running through this campaign has been that of a divided country. Many left-behind small towns and villages feel unrepresented, put off by politics and attracted by the extremes. I went with our film team to the country’s north for this report on Fractured France, and why it matters. Not far away is the cathedral city of Amiens, Mr Macron’s home town, and the place the then 38-year-old launched his post-partisan movement only six years ago. Our cover briefing this week reports from the city, looking at both the triumphs and disappointments of Mr Macron’s first term, and why the populist-nationalist Marine Le Pen is capturing the disillusioned mood. 

Don’t forget to check out our forecasting model, which is on our French election hub and is updated daily. It calculates the probability of each candidate making it through to the second round, and of winning the final run-off for the French presidency on April 24th. Bonne lecture!