As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France.

(LREM), had defeated Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, once already in the 2017 French presidential election, for the term which expired on 13 May 2022.

[2] In the first round Macron finished first with 28% of the vote, followed by Le Pen with 23%, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France Insoumise with 22% and Éric Zemmour of Reconquête with 7%.

Valérie Pécresse of the Republicans received 5% of the vote and Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and Socialist Party candidate, 2%.

[7] According to the Constitution of France, the first round of the presidential election must be held between 20 and 35 days before the transition of power at the end of the five-year term of the incumbent officeholder.

[11] In a document dated 17 October 2017, the Socialist Party (PS) wrote that the financing of the 2022 presidential campaign was not assured despite "economic restructuring" but still planned to spend €12,000,000, the maximum legally permitted before the first round.

(LREM) in 2017, formed a new political party called Valeur Absolue and announced his intention to enter the race for the presidency.

[22] In February 2022, a wave of defections hit Valérie Pécresse, candidate put forward by LR, in favour of Macron.

[23] She was accused by members of the party's centrist wing of trying to pander to the voters of Zemmour,[24] whose sharp rise in the polls has been qualified as "meteoric".

[25] During a rally in February 2022, Pécresse said "in ten years time ... will we be a sovereign nation, a US satellite or a Chinese trading post?

[35] Macron formally announced his candidacy for re-election on 3 March 2022, by which time he had already received well more than the sponsorships from elected officials to qualify for the ballot.

[41][42][43] Left-leaning independent candidate Christiane Taubira, former Minister of Justice (2012–2014) under President François Hollande and winner of the 2022 People's Primary vote, withdrew her candidacy on 2 March 2022, endorsing Mélenchon.

[53][54] On 7 March 2022, the Constitutional Council published names of the 12 candidates who received 500 valid sponsorships, with the order determined by drawing lots.

[73][74] On 20 April, the only election debate of the campaign (moderated by Léa Salamé and Gilles Bouleau) to feature both major candidates was held.

[75][76] The election brought together new alliances of protest movements, concerned with issues such as police brutality, racism, feminism and climate change, which held a large demonstration before the poll.

[87] Le Pen conceded defeat minutes after the estimated results were released,[85] but still called the outcome a victory for her political movement and for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

[89] Olivier Véran, Minister for Solidarity and Health, stated that the government has "heard the French people's message", referring to the increasing number of votes for the far-right, and that "there will be a change of method".

[88] Macron reflected on the results of the elections self-critically, assuming that many voters voted for him to counter the far right rather than in support of his political positions.

[90] Macron was congratulated by several world leaders on his re-election, with his first call coming from German chancellor Olaf Scholz.