French and international media cannot break their fixation with the ‘extreme right’. They continue to target the Rassemblement National (RN) as the ultimate menace for the 7 July legislative elections. But as of Friday, a more potent threat to French political and financial stability has raised its head: the radical left-wing ‘New Popular Front’ (NPF). This coalition of greens, communists, socialists and Trotskyists dominated by the radical-left La France Insoumise party (LFI), surprised many by their agreement to field common constituency candidates and a common manifesto.

Following the bitter breakup two years ago of the radical left-wing NUPES coalition, prospects for a new agreement were slim. Something close to civil war had followed, with particular vitriol administered by the radical firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a devotee of Robespierre and now self-proclaimed prime minister-in-waiting. Financial markets, unlike the international media, did not overlook the baleful significance of the agreement. The French Bourse and bond markets took an additional nosedive at lunch before the ink was dry on the NPF agreement.

Why........

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