Apparently, some of the supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leftist candidate who came fourth and who was eliminated in the first round, are intending to vote for Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French presidential election tomorrow. This is a point of view that is echoed among a small group of political activists in most countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

In America, it was reflected by some supporters of Bernie Sanders, the “socialist” candidate for the Democratic nomination, who said that it would be better to have Donald Trump as president than Hillary Clinton. After this week’s vote in the House of Representatives to repeal parts of Obamacare that offer protection to the old, poor and those with existing illnesses, this ought to be a difficult argument to sustain.

In truth, not many did sustain it. The vast majority of Mr Sanders’s supporters, after a bit of posturing, knuckled under and voted reluctantly for Ms Clinton. The unsettling thing about the US election, however, is that it was decided by such a narrow margin in the swing states that the Sanders refuseniks might have helped put Mr Trump in the White House.

In Britain, a strain of support for Jeremy Corbyn poured scorn on the other candidates for the Labour leadership as “red Tories” and insisted that, if the party were led by Liz Kendall, Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham or Owen Smith, there would be no point in voting Labour as it would be the same as voting Conservative. Again, such fundamentalism has served the main left-of-centre party badly. This week’s local elections suggest that Labour is heading for its worst showing in a general election than at any time since 1931. It is not absurd to suggest that, if Labour were led by any of the other candidates, it would be in a better position now.

Finally, in a sort of international limbo, partly in cyberspace and partly in a broom cupboard in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, we have the example of Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks. He and it started as a crusade for openness against the global elite, but they now find themselves the unwitting allies of an authoritarian Russian government and the enemy of candidates such as Ms Clinton, who have a better claim to stand for social justice and internationalism than their opponents.

French Presidential Election Show all 20 1 /20 French Presidential Election French Presidential Election Voters line up to cast their ballots REUTERS French Presidential Election French expats queue along the street outside the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle to cast their vote in a polling station inside the school, in the first round of the 2017 French presidential election, in London, Britain April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor - RTS13JM5 REUTERS French Presidential Election People line up to vote in the first round of 2017 French presidential election at a polling station in Vaulx-en-Velin near Lyon, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot - RTS13HSP REUTERS French Presidential Election Police patrol polling stations in France REUTERS French Presidential Election Francois Fillon (L), member of the Republicans political party and 2017 French presidential election candidate of the French centre-right, casts his vote in the first round of 2017 French presidential election in Paris, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Christophe Archambault/Pool - RTS13IH0 REUTERS French Presidential Election Benoit Hamon (C), French Socialist party 2017 presidential candidate, is surrounded by photographers as he leaves a polling station after voting in the first round of 2017 French presidential election in Trappes, near Paris, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler - RTS13I0Y REUTERS French Presidential Election French President Francois Hollande collects voting slips before casting his ballot in the first round of the 2017 French presidential election at a polling station in Tulle, France, on April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Georges Gobet/Pool - RTS13ITO REUTERS French Presidential Election A policeman walks by election posters near a polling station during the first round of 2017 French presidential election in Paris, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann - RTS13I3A REUTERS French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Trogneux REUTERS French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron casts his ballot REUTERS French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, waves hand during in the first round of 2017 French presidential election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier - RTS13ICH SAA/ French Presidential Election Jean-Luc Melenchon, candidate of the French far-left Parti de Gauche and candidate for the French 2017 presidential election, leaves a polling booth in the first round of 2017 French presidential election at a polling station in Paris, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - RTS13IKB REUTERS French Presidential Election Front National leader Marine Le Pen casts her ballot Marine Le Pen (L), French National Front (FN) political party leader and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, casts her ballot in the first round of 2017 French presidential election at a polling station in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, April 23, 2017. At R, Mayor of Henin-Beaumont Steeve Briois. REUTERS/Charles Platiau - RTS13IEI REUTERS French Presidential Election Early ballots are read as results continue to come in Reuters French Presidential Election Macron supporters react as results come in early in the evening AP French Presidential Election Supporters of Front National leader Marine Le Pen cheer as early results come in Reuters French Presidential Election Alamy Live News. J21KYW Paris, France. 23rd April 2017. Marcon supporters wave French and EU flags after the announcement that he is the leader in the exit polls after the polling stations have been closed. Supporters of Emmanuel Macron, the Presidential candidate from the social liberal political party En Marche! celebrate the exit polls, that see him in first place, ahead of Marine Le Pen from the Front National in the first round of the French Presidential election. Credit: Michael Debets/Alamy Live News This is an Alamy Live News image and may not be part of your current Alamy deal . If you are unsure, please contact our sales team to check. Alamy French Presidential Election Front National leader Marine Le Pen takes to the stage to address her supporters as fans cheer Reuters French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron greets supporters on Sunday night AP French Presidential Election Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Trogneux celebrate the incoming results EPA

It is no coincidence that WikiLeaks, if it was not responsible for hacking into the emails of the campaign of Emmanuel Macron, has joined in the dissemination of the leaked material. Mr Macron’s opponent is the pro-Putin Ms Le Pen. Nor is it a coincidence that WikiLeaks and Vladimir Putin were implicated in the leaks of Democratic Party emails in the US election campaign, to the benefit of Mr Trump, the pro-Putin candidate (even if he has not been a particularly pro-Putin president so far).

This is a rather feeble and late attempt to intervene in the election campaign – there does not appear to be anything of interest in the emails. Fortunately, the last opinion polls published before the ban on their publication on the day before polling day, suggest that Mr Macron has a commanding lead of more than 20 percentage points. Let us hope that the polls are as accurate in the second round as they were in the first.

We should not be complacent about the result, however, and we should not allow it to obscure the poor reasoning of voters who think of themselves as on the left who end up voting for the xenophobia of Ms Le Pen. Mr Mélenchon carried out a poll of the supporters of his La France Insoumise movement. Only 35 per cent called for a vote for Mr Macron. Mr Mélenchon did not offer the option of advocating a vote for Ms Le Pen, but 65 per cent wanted to abstain or spoil their ballot papers. These people, following the cowardly lead of Mr Mélenchon himself, may imagine that by not voting they are withholding their support for Ms Le Pen, but in fact they are saying that there is no difference between the two candidates. It may not matter this time, but it could matter in future. Not voting against the Front National could one day be the same as voting for it. These people do not know their left from their right.