 Mr Macron went on TV to call an election. He'd apparently been thinking about doing this for months, but it came out of the blue for even his closest colleagues. Now, keep in mind that his own job is not on the line here. But Emmanuel Macron clearly wanted to break a logjam after his failure to secure an absolute majority in the National Assembly in June 2022. The first round of voting yesterday eliminated any candidate who failed to secure majority.