A sigh of relief from France’s European and Nato allies was heard after Emmanuel Macron won a convincing victory over his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in the final round of the presidential election on Sunday.

France’s status as a linchpin of the EU and a strong contributor to Nato in its support for Ukraine against Russia has been secured for another five years, as reflected in the plaudits for Macron on Sunday night from the likes of Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz and Ursula von der Leyen, leaders of the US, Germany and the European Commission.

At home in France, however, an electoral victory that might seem a landslide in another country — projections show Macron beating Le Pen by around 58 per cent of the vote to 42 — disguises the reality that the nationalist, Eurosceptic, anti-immigration far right is stronger than at any time since the second world war. French society remains deeply divided.