Macron’s novices rally round as tight poll fight looms

This time almost five years ago, Caroline Janvier was a member of the newly elected Emmanuel Macron’s army of would-be parliamentarians.

These “novices”, as La République En Marche – the pop-up party created to bring Macron to power – called them, were so green they were sent on a one-day crash course on how to run a campaign and deal with the press.

Janvier, 40, a graduate of the elite Sciences Po institute, won her seat in Loiret, south of Paris, despite being a political unknown.

Last Saturday,