Two neighbouring countries are approaching elections that were called out of the blue.

Both have governments that are expected to fall.

In both countries political tensions have divided families and friends.

Stop. At this point, all attempts to draw parallels between the British and French elections must cease.

Because however much might be at issue in the UK election - and there is much - it pales next to the stakes that have been raised across the channel.

Here in France, it is not just the fate of a government or a leader that is in the air – but of a political system.

And the risks are not of disappointed hopes and crushed careers, as in a peacefully functioning democracy, but of actual violence.