Where did it all go wrong for Emmanuel Macron? In his New Year’s Eve address of 2022, France’s president called on his people to demonstrate ‘unity, boldness and collective ambition’ in the year ahead. There would be challenges, he acknowledged, referencing the impending pension reform, but the president expressed his optimism that together they could ‘strengthen our independence, our greatness of spirit’ and build a ‘stronger, fairer France’.