Taniel at Bolts with a short primer on today’s runoff in France. France is holding its parliamentary elections today. Clear stakes: Will far-right end up governing France? And if it fails, what possible coalition will end up governing given fragmentation? You can follow me for results starting at 2pm ET; but a quick context 🧵: Let’s start with: In France, president runs the show… as long as their party controls the Assembly. If presidential party loses that control, the president has few domestic powers—no veto, for instance. This isn’t a US-style split government. That’s why stakes today so high. Macron called these just 4 weeks ago. Decision shocked his own allies. He already lost his gamble: His bloc is sure to lose seats & its tentative control on Assembly. (He reportedly expected Left would fail to unite, & be knocked out of R1 most places; that didn’t happen.) 4 main blocs that you’ll hear about today: —“Left bloc”, New Popular Front: a multiparty alliance rebuilt in just a few days—Macron’s bloc—Far-right bloc: Le Pen’s party, RN, and new allies—LR: the traditional conservative parties, that have fallen low but may still matter France has a two-round runoff system. The first round was last week; it decides what candidates move on to the runoff… which gets complicated. I broke it down in this quick explainer the other day: How Voting Works in the U.K. and France: Your Questions AnsweredOn the eve of the French and British elections, Bolts responds to 10 reader questions on how…