The Daily Mail, which once heralded Le Pen’s place in the run-off as a ‘revolution’, is curiously silent on French presidential election

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The British press has reacted with a mixture of relief, foreboding and stony silence to the news that Emmanuel Macron will be the next French president.

The Daily Mail, which loudly welcomed the “new French revolution” when Marine Le Pen made it into the second round of voting in April, somehow could not find a spot for the final election result on its front page - at least for the first edition.

Instead, the paper went with images of Prince Harry kissing his girlfriend and a story about insurance companies being unscrupulous.

Jon Stone (@joncstone) How strange, the Daily Mail made a big deal of Le Pen getting through to the run-off but doesn’t seem as interested in the final result pic.twitter.com/EwNnRZSysj

Macron’s victory did make it onto the front of the Daily Telegraph, but the historic news was presented solely in relation to how it could impact Britain’s exit from the EU. The paper’s page one headline made no mention of the far-right candidate being beaten by centrist Macron and instead warned that his victory “puts cloud over Brexit”.

Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) TELEGRAPH: France's new hope puts cloud over Brexit #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/ydSc3fgJrK

It was a sentiment echoed – albeit via far fewer column inches – by the Mirror.

Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) MIRROR: England Star bets on his own transfer #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/wuXIJgnjbw

Elsewhere, the Times and Financial Times played it pretty straight. The Times lauded a “landslide for Macron”, while the FT announced “Macron sweeps to victory” as French voters opted for “globalism over populism”.

Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) THE TIMES: Landslide for Macron #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/UxBR5fPnqn

Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) FINANCIAL TIMES: Macron sweeps to victory #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/kz8DRHbSxf

Likewise, the Guardian welcomed Macron’s ascension, but warned that he now faces the huge challenge of uniting a divided France.

Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) GUARDIAN: Macron wins French presidency but country remains divided #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/zWOcEEVKrJ

With The Sun silent on the result, it was left to the Metro to inject a bit of fun and come up with what is arguably the best pun of the day.

Sky News (@SkyNews) THE METRO FRONT PAGE: 'Le Big Mac' #skypapers pic.twitter.com/hCaMyhtxEd