France's upcoming presidential election is such a close call UK bookmakers say it has attracted what is thought to be unprecedented interest from British gamblers.
ADVERTISEMENTIt seems it is not only the French who have lots at stake in their upcoming election. The British have a lot riding on it too. Some 1.2 million euros is expected to be gambled on the presidential race, the most unpredictable in France in decades.
It is thought to be the most a continental election has ever drawn from British punters’ pockets.
“If you look at the two markets, or the most recent markets of the American election obviously and Donald Trump, you look at Brexit, we didn’t predict them and they happened. And this could be it all over again,” says bookmaker William Hill’s Rupert Adams.
Euronews’ Damon Embling reported from London: “People are not just betting a few euros on the French election. One person, for instance, has got 35,000 euros on Marine Le Pen to take the presidency. But the far-right leader is not the bookies’ favourite here in the UK, it’s independent centrist Emmanuel Macron.”
But beyond all the betting, in Brexit Britain, interest in the French election varies – even in London, which voted to stay in the EU.
“Not interested one little bit,” one man told Euronews, “politics don’t interest me at all.”
A woman added: “Not in the French election, no. Absolutely not.”
But one young man seemed to be more aware of goings-on the other side of the channel:
“I think it’s an important time for the election, especially with all what’s happening in Europe,” he said.
So, as France’s big election approaches, there’ll be some British eyes watching – including those hoping to cash in on the unpredictable outcome.