Le Pen’s hard right looks set to crush Macron’s centrists

If France is a test case for whether Europe’s political centre can hold against the forces of nationalism and populism, Flixecourt captures the dynamics shaping that choice. For over half a century voters there have entrusted their town hall to the Communist Party. These days Flixecourt is under strain, but not deserted. Traffic on its main street rumbles past two boulangeries and a Turkish kebab joint. Net curtains hang neatly in the windows of its rows of little terraced houses. The town boasts an indoor synthetic ice rink, charging €2 ($2.17) a session, and organised a recent rally for baton-twirling majorettes. A huge modern logistics warehouse by the motorway just outside the town has jobs to fill. “Unemployment is less of a problem than it used to be,” says Patrick Gaillard, the town’s Communist mayor. “Those who really want a job can find one.”