Marching into trouble

摘要

The applause in the small auditorium was polite, rather than enthusiastic. A friendly senator in the front row tried to stir electoral fervour, clapping her hands rhythmically over her head as the star guest walked in. But Nathalie Loiseau, Emmanuel Macron's softly spoken leading candidate at elections to the European Parliament, is a technocrat who says that she is "not made for big glittery shows". And indeed, on stage in a town north-west of Paris, she is not. Despite weeks of non-stop campaigning across the country, Mr Macron's party seems to be stalling.