The coronavirus lockdown persuaded retired speech therapist Anne-Marie Arnaud a better future could be had, one with emptier skies, fresher air and quieter streets rid of diesel-belching cars.

And so the pensioner from Lyon switched her vote in last Sunday's municipal election, among the first worldwide to be held after countries began emerging from lockdown, in favour of the Green party, according to Reuters.

The results, which saw the Greens take control of or become an alliance partner in no fewer than 11 city halls, may point to a broader shift in voting patterns as governments, companies, and citizens adjust to the Covid-19 era.

“I realised how clean the air was, how nice it was to walk in a city, and be awoken by birdsong rather than car horns,” Arnaud, 64, said. “I told myself there was good in this crisis and that we had to rethink our city in a different way.”

Certainly, support for the party officially known as European Ecology — The Greens (EELV) was already growing.