Top story: ‘I will unite the nation,’ vows Macron
Good morning. This is Martin Farrer with the best of the news this Monday morning.
Emmanuel Macron has promised to “protect France against extremism” after claiming the French presidency with a convincing 66%-34% victory over Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s final round of voting. The 39-year-old independent candidate said “the world is watching us” and vowed to unite the nation after years of economic stagnation and perceived national decline that had allowed Le Pen’s far-right, anti-establishment tilt at the Élysée.
However, it won’t be easy for Macron, who was the economy minister in the outgoing, widely derided Hollande government (see our editorial on this theme). And perhaps underlining the scale of his task, his victory speech outside the Louvre in Paris was “sombre” and the mood among the crowd as “subdued” despite party music, live bands, DJ and dancers.
And, if you want to watch rather than read, check out this video explaining who is the real Emmanuel Macron.
For her part, Le Pen said her Front National was now the country’s main opposition (although to what is not clear since Macron doesn’t have a party) and can take succour from winning 11 million votes, an all-time high for the anti-immigration right. She says she will overhaul the party and, as our correspendent Angelique Chrisafis writes, she cannot be written off.
Read our daily election briefing The Snap to find out how the Macron victory result is affecting the political climate in Britain. Find out how to subscribe to The Snap at the bottom of this page.
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Career shelved – Hospital bosses have warned that demoralised staff are quitting to stack shelves in supermarkets because they are fed up with only getting pay rises of only 1% or less.
In the latest sign of the problems besetting the health service, NHS Providers, which represents almost all of England’s 240 NHS hospital, mental health and ambulance trusts, tells ministers today that the longstanding policy of holding down NHS staff pay is wrong and deepening its already severe staff shortages. Chris Hopson, NHS Providers’ chief executive, said: “Significant numbers of trusts say lower-paid staff are leaving to stack shelves in supermarkets rather than carry on with the NHS.”
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Blue Monday? – On a similiar theme, a survey out today says that two-thirds of British adults say they have experienced mental ill-health. A study of 2,000 people by the Mental Health Foundation showed that those aged 18-54 were more likely to say they have experienced a mental health problem (70% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 68% of 35-54s) than older people (58%). Low earners were also much more likely to have had problems.
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How does he do it? – Banksy has struck again, this time with a mural popping up in Dover depicting a workman chipping away at one of the stars on the EU flag. The mural, which appeared on the Castle Amusements building in the main channel ferry port, was confirmed by Banksy’s representatives to be a genuine work by the elusive artist. It is his first comment on last year’s Brexit vote.
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Back with a bang – The US military’s experimental X-37B space plane has landed at the Kennedy space centre in Florida with a sonic boom that could be heard miles away. The US air force confirmed the return of the plane, which looks like a space shuttle, after completing a classified mission during which it carried out secret experiments.
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Being Donald – He doesn’t look anything like him, and can’t speak much English, but neither shortcoming has prevented Li Liangwei from embarking on a career impersonating Donald Trump in China. Hailing from central Hunan province, Li claims to have wowed crowds with public appearances where he cites Chairman Mao’s poetry. But his agent hints at a deeper reason for his success: in a nation where you can’t impersonate the local leadership, world leaders are fair game.
Lunchtime read: ‘It was hard giving old Bruce up’
Where to start? The revelation that Caitlyn Jenner was on hormone replacement therapy and had a bust size of 36B before she married Kris Kardashian is just one of a number in Emma Brockes’ fascinating interview with the Olympic gold medal-winning athlete turned transgender woman. Coming hard on the heels of the release of her book, The Secrets Of Her Life, Jenner talks about voting Trump (“I don’t like big government”), women (“they’ve been brainwashed”) and why she’s not interested in sex.
Sport
José Mourinho has written off his Manchester United team’s chances of qualification to the Champions League via a top-four Premier League finish after seeing them slip to a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. The manager missed a trick for a top-four push with a self-inflicted shunt, writes Barney Ronay, while Granit Xhaka may yet be the answer to Arsenal’s midfield nightmares, according to Amy Lawrence.
Jonny Bairstow did all he could to nudge England towards a rethink of their plans before this summer’s Champions Trophy with a brutal exhibition of hitting and the golden arm of Joe Root setting up an 85-run win over Ireland at Lord’s.
Jason Woodward, the New Zealand‑born full-back who joined Bristol from the Hurricanes last autumn, has been included in an England training squad that will gather on Tuesday for a strength and conditioning camp. And Fernando Gaviria claimed his first Grand Tour stage victory as what looked like being the most straightforward day of the 100th Giro d’Italia blew apart in howling winds in Sardinia.
Business
Despite early gains following Macron’s victory in France, the euro slipped back as some analysts warned that the upside for the currency could be short-lived. Asian shares were up strongly though as Japan’s Nikkei rose more than 2% to its highest since point since November 2015 .
The pound is down against the dollar at $1.295 but was up slightly overnight on the euro at €1.18.
The papers
The broadsheets lead on the French election and the Macron victory - but with different slants. We’ve done a separate round up here with pictures.
The FT leads with “Macron sweeps to victory in French presidential election” and goes on to herald the former Rothschild banker’s phenomenal achievement. The Times meanwhile has “Landslide for Macron” pointing out that Le Pen was crushed by the win. The Telegraph sees the victory of Macron – and the Le Pen defeat – through the eyes of Brexit and what it means for Britain. “France’s new hope puts cloud over Brexit” reads its headline.
The Mail, which only weeks ago splashed on Le Pen’s achievement of getting into the run-off for the French presidency with “The new French revolution”, can’t seem to find space for any mention of Macron’s victory on its first edition front. Instead it splashes with a story that insurance companies are charging loyal customers more than new adopters of their services.
The Mirror splashes on a story of a footballer betting on his own prospects in the transfer market. It mentions Macron’s victory “Why the new French leader could be bad for Brexit deal”. No mention of France on the front of the The Sun, but it does have an interesting story saying calls to directory enquiries can now cost nearly £9 – and it claims the elderly who don’t use the internet are most affected by the price rises of the service.
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