Theresa May has appealed to voters to arm her with a decisive victory in next month’s general election so she can take on the incoming French president in Brexit talks.
The prime minister said Emmanuel Macron’s resounding win would put him in a “strong position” around the negotiating table.
He was elected on Sunday, beating far-right rival Marine Le Pen with more than two-thirds of the vote in a runoff.
Staunchly pro-EU, he has already made clear he will use the UK’s decision to quit the bloc to boost the French economy.
And yesterday one of his senior advisers said the president-elect would be “tough” during the talks, although did not want to see a hard Brexit.
Speaking on the campaign trail, Mrs May, who phoned Mr Macron to congratulate him, said: “He was elected with a strong mandate which he can take with him as a strong position in the negotiations.
“The UK, we need to ensure we’ve got an equally strong mandate.
“Every vote for me and my team will strengthen my hand in those Brexit negotiations.
“The alternative is to risk making Jeremy Corbyn prime minister.”
Despite good results in last week’s local elections, the Tory leader warned the party it “cannot take a single thing for granted” in the campaign.
And – standing in front of posters featuring the slogan ‘Theresa May’s Team’ – she called on supporters to “work flat out” in the run up to June 8.
Meanwhile, Jean Pisani-Ferry, chief economic adviser to Mr Macron, spoke about his boss’ plans for the forthcoming Brexit talks.
He said: “I don’t think anybody has an interest in a hard Brexit. I think we need to build a new relationship.
“There are interests on both sides. There is a negotiation to be carried out.
“There is a mutual interest in keeping prosperity that exists, that has been built over the years from lots of economic and various relationships, also the security and defence relationship is extremely important in the kind of environment we are in and which is a very dangerous environment.
“So we have to keep all that.”
But he added: “At the same time, we have divergent interests on some aspects of the negotiation, so there will be a tough negotiation and he (Macron) will be tough.”
Fears have been raised London’s Square Mile is at risk of a French brain drain with the former Rothschild banker, who at 39 will be modern France’s youngest president, expected to ramp up efforts to lure native talent back home.
