Nathalie Loiseau and Emmanuel Macron (Image: David Niviere/Getty Images/John van Hasselt/Corbis via Getty Images)
The upcoming parliamentary elections are being framed as a fierce battle between far-right populists calling for a return to nation states and europhiles pushing for deeper integration. “I have one regret: that we’re giving too much importance to my image and not paying enough attention to what’s at stake in this election. “I get the impression that we’re preparing for the Eurovision song contest [and not for a parliamentary election],” Mrs Loiseau told the news channel BFM TV on Tuesday.
“I’m not here to put on a glittery show, I’m not here to tap dance. That is not my European project,” she said, before stressing that she was “not Bilal Hassani,” France’s Eurovision candidate and a flamboyant queer icon.
Mr Macron’s La République en Marche (REM) is widely seen as running a humdrum campaign and Mrs Loiseau as lacking charisma.
The French leader had been hoping to capitalise on her expert knowledge of EU affairs and Catholic background to expand the REM’s appeal beyond centrists to more conservative voters.
But Mrs Loiseau has struggled to energise supporters and woo the crowds at rallies, unlike her far-right opponent Jordan
