A tough choix? French voters stuck between the hard right and the ultra-hard right

As the twin shocks of Trump and Brexit begin to fade, many eyes are now turning to France — which just experienced a political earthquake of its own.

Last weekend, France's centrist Parti Republicain chose François Fillon as its candidate for president. Fillon promises to tighten immigration, fire hundreds of thousands of bureaucrats and slash business taxes. He is a Euro-skeptic and a social conservative who dislikes same-sex marriage, and he is now the favourite to become the next president of the country of liberty, equality and brotherhood.

[Fillon] represented a kind of quiet hard right that we thought belonged to the past.- Agnes Poirier

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen, the charismatic leader of the far-right Front National, is gaining in the polls.

François Hollande — France's Socialist president — has become one of the most disliked politicians in French history. Only 4 percent of voters think he is up to the job. He announced this week he would not seek re-election.

The stage is now set for a highly unusual presidential election. 

Normally, French elections are fought between the left and the right. Workers defend their fraternal, egalitarian ideas while the upper middle-class and the bourgeoisie defend liberty and business acumen on the other. 

But in the coming electoral battle, French voters will likely have to choose between two parties of the right.

Agnès Poirier is the UK editor for the French weekly Marianne. She has been a regular contributor to The Nation, The New York Times, The Guardian and The Independent.