There are just eight months to go before France’s presidential election, with the first round scheduled for April 18. The campaign is slowly heating up, with several political gatherings taking place this weekend. The Socialist Party wrapped up a two-day gathering on Saturday with a speech from party leader Olivier Faure, who has yet to officially announce his candidacy. Meanwhile, far-right figure Jordan Bardella made a campaign stop at a fair in the Champagne region. This comes after a first debate earlier this week between seven of the leading candidates, organised by business leaders. For an analysis of the current state of the race, we’re joined by Renaud Foucart, a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Lancaster University and one of our go-to analysts on French politics.