Meanwhile, the Left-leaning newspaper Libération published the headline: “Thanks to who?” 

It noted that the 44-year old centrist owed his election to “the political maturity of the French who managed, despite having to sometimes hold their noses, to mobilise to keep at bay the chimera of populism” of a “far-Right that has never been so strong”.

But it added that “France is in a bad way” and despite his promises in his first term, Mr Macron “did not attack the root” of France’s problems and in some cases “widened the gap” between the haves and have-nots.

It said that Mr Macron’s immediate task will be to deal with “falling spending power, anger in hospitals and schools, a climate emergency and the war in Ukraine”.

L’Opinion published a cartoon showing Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic, in a boxing ring and declaring a “victory on points” for a haggard-looking Mr Macron, with Ms Le Pen on the ropes.