The 2022 presidential election, the eleventh direct presidential election of the Fifth Republic, was contested over two rounds in a single national constituency of over 48 million registered voters: truly, in Joseph Schumpeter’s famous definition of democracy, ‘a competitive struggle for the people’s vote’ (Schumpeter Citation2010). The presidential election lies at the heart of representative democracy in contemporary France;

it is the central political contest. Stakes are high, media coverage intense and voters participate in far greater numbers than in any other electoral competition. In 2022, for instance, there was over 70% voter turnout in the presidential election compared with less than 50% in the parliamentary contest a few weeks later.

The official list of candidates was published by the Constitutional Council on 7 March and this is formally regarded as the start of the first-round campaign, even if the long pre-campaign had started well beforehand.