 to form a government. What is clear is the decision by parties on the left and the centre to join forces in the second round of voting scuppered the hopes of the far-right national rally to form a government, led by its leader, Jordan Bardella. And that has left France in uncharted territory, uncharted in the modern era, at least, of having a hung parliament. The young prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who many felt had been rather hung out to dry by President Macron and his decision to call this snap vote,