Last week I thought fiction was about to become fact, though with a Trotskyist candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, ending up with Ms Le Pen in the final round after today’s poll, following a surge in his support. That could still happen.

However, the terrorist attack in the Champs Élysées on Thursday may have hardened support for François Fillon, whose campaign has been dogged by financial scandal and whose image as a devout Catholic family man has been dented by claims of an affair with an aide.

I was in France last weekend and the atmosphere is one of resignation, that the political class has failed France and there has to be serious change. Emmanuel Macron remains favourite, but given that he is a vacuum, he is likely to be a disaster.