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In exactly one month today, the British people will head once more to the polling booth to cast their votes in yet another general election.

There is no doubt that, come the 9 th June, the UK will be led by another, stronger Conservative majority government.

The collapse of Labour and UKIP combined with our anachronistic,disproportionate electoral system makes that a certainty.

So, I won’t try to claim that the success of Macron in France last night means that the Liberal Democrats will win a majority next month.

What is does mean is that there is a place for outward-looking, forward-thing politics.

It means that the far-right can and should be fought and held to account.

It means that we don’t have to settle for the status quo.

In France, Macron has broken through the twentieth century left/right divide of socialism and conservatism to make a clear case for a new liberalism.

(Image: Getty Images)

He has an enthusiasm and vision that Hollande’s tired socialists have lost, and has managed to present a clear and passionate antidote to Marine Le Pen’s nationalist bile - the sort of nationalism which the British Tories are increasingly prone to parroting.

The British people can do what our neighbours across the Channel have done and reject the same tired choice between the UKIP-pandering Conservatives and an out-dated Labour party who are still fighting the battles of the 1950s.

That they can, instead, pursue centrist, progressive politics not bound by tired political ideologies.

Like the Lib Dems, Macron’s En Marche have stood on an unashamedly pro-European platform.

Macron understands what Le Pen and May cannot seem to grasp - that in the 21st century, even the largest European countries are safer, stronger and more prosperous working together.

Whether or not that means membership of the EU is debatable, but the rapidity with which May is turning on our European allies shows just how willing she is to compromise the country in pursuit of populism.

Macron also understands what Corbyn’s Labour party does not - that workers, families and communities will be the ones to suffer in a post-Brexit economy.

The very people that Corbyn purports to represent are those who will carry the burden of his support of Theresa May’s Brexit agenda.

At the core of his relatively short campaign was Macron’s willingness to actually listen to French people.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Instead of telling people what they mean, or limiting interaction to a select group of supporters, Macron purposefully engaged with voters from all backgrounds and spent time listening.

Compare this to Theresa May, who claims to speak for all British people when it comes to the Brexit negotiations.

Who, despite being on the other side of the referendum campaign, says that her view of Brexit is what every leave voter wanted.

By contrast, the Liberal Democrats are the only party who will give voters the chance to decide whether the deal the next government negotiates is goodenough.

If May is truly honest in her assertion that she is representing the best interests of the British people she would welcome a people’s vote on the final deal.

At the beginning of this article, I conceded that the Conservatives will win the General Election in a month's time.

But there is nothing inevitable about the Tory government being allowed to take our country for granted without being challenged by a proper opposition.

Unlike any other party in this country, Liberal Democrats have and will win seats from the Tories.

And every Liberal Democrat MP will use their voice and their power in Parliament to question, to challenge and to scrutinise.

Britain needs a liberal opposition, a party with the same passion and energy as Macron, a party that won’t fall in line behind Theresa May’s hard and divisive Brexit the way that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party have.

The Liberal Democrats are that party, the only party willing to stand up to this hard Brexit government: we are the real opposition to the Conservatives.

*Tim Farron is the leader of the Liberal Democrats