French progressives dare to hope as maverick Macron surges in polls

Pro-EU, socially liberal and a political outsider, the former economy minister is drawing crowds who fear rise of Marine Le Pen From the stage in a packed concert hall, France’s youngest presidential candidate looked up at the thousands of people who had come to witness his trademark thunderous speaking style.
“Never accept those who promote exclusion, hatred or closing in on ourselves!” Emmanuel Macron urged the audience in Lille, a city surrounded by France’s leftwing n