Marine Le Pen is the political winner from the anarchy that erupted in France at the weekend. A poll conducted in the 48 hours after the nationwide riots found that the leader of the National Rally is the only figure whose approval rating has increased. Le Pen is now up to 38 per cent, a popularity not seen since Francois Mitterrand enjoyed widespread support in the 1980s. According to Frédéric Dabi, one of France’s leading political scientists, Le Pen is regarded as ‘the representative of the party of order, the party of those who can no longer tolerate the chaos’.

Her nearest rival is Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the far-left La France insoumise, the party that much of the country holds responsible for stoking disorder in recent weeks. But Melenchon trails Le Pen by more than 20 points and is suffering from the emergence of Raphael Glucksmann. The social democrat has syphoned off some of Melenchon’s bourgeois support and will continue to do so in the wake of last weekend’s violence.

Lisnard is the closest France has to a British Tory

Lisnard is the closest France has to a British Tory

But arguably the politician who has the strongest wind in his sails this week is a rank outsider called David Lisnard. The 57-year-old mayor of Cannes quit the centre-right Republicans in March........

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