Early leader Jacline set to launch political party

Ms Mouraud (pictured below) was one of the prominent protesters who accepted government invitations to talks, a move which she claims resulted in her receiving death threats from hard-liners.

She had criticised, in particular, the tax on diesel fuel in a selfie video which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

She drives around 25,000km a year in her job as a self-employed anti-smoking hypnotherapist in Brittany, she said, for which she earns around €1,000 a month.

Ms Mouraud said: “I have been flooded with messages of support for the new party.

“Over half are from people who were not part of the gilets jaunes but see the need for positive change in the country, not destruction.”

The party, provisionally called Les Emergents, will campaign for full reform of the tax structure and more emphasis on the social impact of any new policy before implementation.

The party will be “not right and not left”, she said. It will be organised mainly through a website rather than social media, which she described as being “full of parasites with bad intentions”.

It will not contest the European elections in May but could possibly be ready to canvass for the municipal elections in 2020.

“We want to take it slowly and build well,” she said. “The important thing is that the dialogue and energy we saw in the country from the gilets jaunes is used for positive change in France.”

She has welcomed moves by President Macron to improve the purchasing power of low-paid workers.

She called for people to take part in the national debates (see here).