Emmanuel Macron’s amateur politicians are poised to remake French parliament

Candidates like Mr. Berville are part of a wave that Mr. Macron hopes will complete the thorough transformation of France’s political landscape. The young president has so far had few missteps, from the founding of his upstart nonparty movement 14 months ago to his upset election victory last month.

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A month ago, there were doubts about whether Mr. Macron could come up with enough candidates, let alone win a majority. But a widely acknowledged strong beginning by Mr. Macron — one veteran politician from the rival Socialists was quoted as saying the French were “stupefied” to discover the new president’s adroitness — has swept away the skepticism.

That showing has helped Mr. Macron recruit dozens of nonpoliticians to run for him across the country: a famous female ex-bullfighter, a renowned mathematician, a fighter pilot, a former top paramilitary police commander, a handball champion, and lots of owners of small- and medium-size businesses.

Many, exceptionally for France, are also minorities, and 50 percent are women. After the last elections, one researcher found a mere 12 members of Parliament of minority origin, barely 2 percent of the legislature — hardly representative of France’s diverse population.

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