Marine Le Pen

As French voters head to the polls this Sunday in the first of what is expected to be a two-round presidential election, polls suggest far-right leader ...

Though the election's outcome has not been decided, France's transition of power is expected to take place on May 13. She was most recently defeated in the 2017 runoff against Macron, after a surprising win in the first round. "Whatever happens, this will be the best result ever for the French far right.”

A new YouGov survey shows that 56 per cent of French voters aged 18 to 24 would back far-Right Marine Le Pen over Emmanuel Macron.

Such as result would hand Le Pen the presidency. We've lost our point of reference, as a country.' (Pictured: Le Pen on campaign trail this week) Just last month, Macron appeared all but certain to become the first French leader to win re-election since Jacques Chirac in 2002. 'We've always known economic crisis and terrorism, environmental problems. But this support for Le Pen may not lead to a victory, as a record-breaking 31 per cent of voters may abstain this year. The latest prediction suggests that Macron will win 27 per cent of the vote in the first-round election tomorrow, with Le Pen taking 22 per cent. A shock poll by Brazilian firm Atlas Politico placed Le Pen ahead of the incumbent head of state, giving her 50.5 per cent of the vote ahead of Macron on 49.5 per cent. 'I challenge him to find a single proposal in my program that discriminates against the French because of their origin, their religion or the colour of their skin', Le Pen said on Friday – two days before the 2022 French presidential election starts. I'm not a racist, says Marine Le Pen as she keeps closing the gap on Emmanuel Macron ahead of French election vote on Sunday - with one poll suggesting she could WIN second round A new YouGov survey generated this week shows that 56 per cent of voters aged 18 to 24 would back Marine Le Pen (Pictured: Le Pen during a campaign rally this week) The latest prediction suggests that Mr Macron will win 27 per cent of the vote in the first-round election tomorrow (Pictured: Macron speaking on French TV station TF1 during his campaign this week)

France heads to the polls on Sunday, with Emmanuel Macron facing a far tougher test than first envisaged.

He is no fan of far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who posed a serious threat to Le Pen earlier on in the campaign but has recently plummeted in the polls. He has also campaigned on economic issues and sought to address voters’ daily concerns, but has been pilloried by the candidates of the Socialist, Green and Communist parties. But he has become embroiled in a disastrously timed scandal involving hundreds of millions of euros paid to consultancy firms to advise the state on the Covid crisis. Ms Le Pen allegedly owes millions of euros to banks operated by Kremlin-linked oligarchs, and has voiced anti-European Union and anti-Nato commentary. “[Ms Le Pen] has never been closer to victory.” And while presidential elections generally elicit more enthusiasm, some studies predict that up to half of the youth electorate may abstain. In polls conducted just a week before the election, a third of the electorate said they might still change their voting intention and dump their preferred candidate. The president has also drawn criticism from some voters who feel he has focused more on diplomacy over Ukraine than on domestic matters. “It is a vote for the people.” Start your Independent Premium subscription today. We are being asked to help decide our future.” They are antique car aficionados and struggling students.

His re-election – which would be the first of any French president in 20 years – was predicted to be a foregone conclusion even two weeks ago.

“Marine Le Pen has never been so capable of winning a presidential election.“ Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Also on the rise with 17.5 per cent is Leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon who is hoping to unite disillusioned left-wingers and Greens whose candidates have fallen by the wayside. He will now switch to attract young voters by suggesting L Pen would further divide France and ultimately take the country out of the EU. Her program will create massive unemployment because it will trigger the flight of international investors, and it doesn’t make budgetary sense, it won’t work for long.” “People will be given a fine in the same way that it is illegal to not wear your seat belt.

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Le Pen is a Eurosceptic, although her anti-EU rhetoric has softened since she lost the 2017 election. If the polls are accurate, Le Pen and Macron will once again go on to a second round of voting which will take place on 24 April. The second round will take place on 24 April and results will start to be announced after the polls close. In 2017 Macron and Le Pen both progressed to the second round of voting, where Macron gained almost twice as many votes as his rival. Le Pen took over as President of the National Front from her father from 2011. Le Pen, 53, is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the 93-year-old far right politician and Holocaust denier who was President of the National Front from 1972-2011.

French President Emmanuel Macron hit out at his main election rival, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, as his lead in polls further narrowed to a wafer-thin ...

"They play with the fear," Mr Macron told online news outlet Brut on Friday in a last-minute appeal to progressive-leaning, younger voters. "They play with the fear," Mr Macron told online news outlet Brut on Friday in a last-minute appeal to progressive-leaning, younger voters. "So it is a fact that I entered (the campaign) even later than I wished," Mr Macron said, adding that he retained a "spirit of conquest rather than of defeat." The poll,, showed that Mr Macron had lost a further two points at 26 per cent support and Ms Le Pen had gained two points to 25 per cent. "So it is a fact that I entered (the campaign) even later than I wished," Mr Macron said, adding that he retained a "spirit of conquest rather than of defeat." The poll,, showed that Mr Macron had lost a further two points at 26 per cent support and Ms Le Pen had gained two points to 25 per cent.

Campaigning on cost of living and seemingly balanced out by the more extreme Zemmour, far-right leader is posing a threat to incumbent.

Financial support from readers like you allows me to travel to witness both war (I just returned from reporting in Ukraine) and the signing of historic agreements. Some of France’s overseas territories in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and South America vote Saturday, before Sunday voting on the French mainland. Barring a monumental surprise, both Macron and Le Pen are expected to advance again from the first-round field of 12 candidates, to set up a winner-takes-all rematch in the second-round vote on April 24. But in the wake of the war in Ukraine, that potential embarrassment doesn’t appear to have turned Le Pen’s supporters against her. She has called the invasion “absolutely indefensible” and said Putin’s behavior cannot be excused “in any way.” But the 53-year-old Le Pen is now a more polished, formidable, and savvy political foe as she makes her third attempt to become France’s first woman president.

Emmanuel Macron faces the fight of his political life as the presidential election opens today. His fate has lessons for parties continent-wide.

It is time to reassert the best of ourselves and it falls to Macron over the next fortnight to find the words, energy, his moderate left-of-centre roots and the elan to do just that. Blaming foreigners, appealing to a mystic conception of your country and trying to transmute you and your party into unchallenged masters of the state lead to what is happening in Ukraine. The centre and centre-left – in Britain, in France, indeed everywhere in Europe – have to make that case, along with feasible if aggressive programmes that make capitalism work for the common good. It has not only relegitimised the EU and brought it together – it is a forceful call to all western electorates about where illiberalism, uber-nationalism and suppression lead. The elephant’s long, drooping tail is the continuing disadvantage faced by the world’s poor, the downward sloping of the trunk is what has happened to the incomes of the mass of workers in industrialised countries, while the last triumphant upward curve of the U-shaped trunk describes the ever lusher incomes of the elite – globalisation’s unchallenged beneficiaries. Durable governing coalitions are of the centre and centre-left or centre and centre-right, otherwise there is no organising governing political philosophy or sufficient electoral ballast. Similarly, French voters, having briefly rallied to President Emmanuel Macron as war leader, are now inclining to Le Pen, who is expected to run him a close second in the first round of the presidential election today.

Opinion polls from the week before the first round of the presidential election showed a narrower gap between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right ...

In addition, new presidential candidate Eric Zemmour has — because he is even more right wing — contributed to the softening of her image. Based on current trends, Macron and Le Pen could be neck-and-neck come election time," analysts at Berenberg said in a note to clients Wednesday. Opinion polls from the week before the first round of the presidential election showed a narrower gap between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right party leader Marine Le Pen, who is running for the third time.

As France goes to the polls Sunday, experts analyze where the five leading candidates, including president Macron, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and ...

Up to 48 million eligible voters are choosing one of 12 candidates after polls opened in France at 8am local time on Sunday. They will close at 7pm (6pm ...

We've lost our point of reference, as a country.' French socialist presidential candidate Ms Hidalgo queues as she arrives to cast her vote in the first round of the French presidential election in Paris today French socialist presidential candidate Ms Hidalgo arrives to cast her vote in the first round of the French presidential election in Paris early this morning Such as result would hand Le Pen the presidency. They could drive many voters on Sunday into the arms of Le Pen. A woman waits to cast her vote in the first round of the French presidential election in Paris, France, early on Sunday French socialist presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo casts her vote in the first round of the French presidential election in Paris, France, on Sunday A woman wearing face mask casts her vote in the first round of the French presidential election in Paris early this morning 'We've always known economic crisis and terrorism, environmental problems. Le gloves are off! France's far-right party 'Reconquete' leader and candidate to the 2022 presidential election, Eric Zemmour, arrives to vote at a polling station in the first round of the French presidential elections in Paris today French President Emmanuel Macron casts his ballot for the first round of the presidential election, in Le Touquet, Northern France, on Sunday morning amid a surge in support for far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen

Millions of French voters were heading to the polls to kick off a presidential election in which far-right leader Marine Le Pen has suddenly closed in on ...

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President Emmanuel Macron is expected to finish first, and may again face the far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round. After a muted campaign, ...

While all eyes have been focused on the swift rise of Ms. Le Pen, the far-right candidate, Mr. Mélenchon, 70, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, has witnessed a comeback in recent weeks. All with a view, Mr. Macron said, “to securing a cease-fire and then the total withdrawal of troops.” “The way he advertised himself in 2017 has very little to do with what has been done,” he added. Mr. Zelensky, to judge by a recent interview in The Economist, has been underwhelmed. He has pledged to stop immigration, even rejecting refugees from the war in Ukraine, and also proposed expelling immigrants as part of “remigration.” He failed to reposition himself, especially against his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, and at under 10 percent in most polls, he is unlikely to make it past the first round on Sunday. The first months of the campaign were marked by polarized rhetoric on immigration and security — a characteristic that many residents in Melun deplored. France’s presidents — who have formidable powers at their disposal and set much of the country’s agenda — are elected directly by the people to five-year terms in a two-round voting system. At a time when revived nationalism had produced Brexit and the Trump presidency, he bet on a strong commitment to the European Union — and swept aside his opponents with an incisive panache. “I’m in favor of selective immigration, instead of the current situation where we have immigrants who are seeking to take advantage of the French system,” said Karl, who works in real estate. Many French people feel left out from the economic growth that Mr. Macron has delivered and are anxious about the violence in their neighborhoods. President Biden has repeatedly said the world is at an “inflection point” in the confrontation between autocracy and democracy.

Marine Le Pen is the main rival to President Emmanuel Macron, and although he continues to lead the opinion polls, several surveys suggest this now falls ...

"We are ready, and the French are with us," Ms Le Pen told cheering supporters on Thursday, urging them to cast a ballot for her to deliver "the fair punishment which those who have governed us so badly deserve". Midday figures put turnout at just 25.48%. Marine Le Pen is the main rival to President Emmanuel Macron, and although he continues to lead the opinion polls, several surveys suggest this now falls within the margin of error.

Follow the latest updates as polls predict a tight first round finish between the president, Emmanuel Macron, and Marine Le Pen, from the far-right National ...

But there will be no certainty about what it all means until the first projections when polls close at 8pm - these are not, by the way, exit polls, but estimations based on actual votes cast in a representative selection of polling stations nationwide. Exactly a month ago, on 10 March, Emmanuel Macron - buoyed by a rally-round-the-flag effect following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - stood at about 30% and Marine Le Pen at about 18%, according to the Guardian’s election tracker. It’s hard to say at this stage who this might benefit. On the other hand, some of the detail in those midday turnout figures could be ringing a few alarm bells in the president’s camp: abstention looks to be higher in the Paris region, which was heavily pro-Macron in the last elections in 2017, whereas turnout in some areas that voted predminantly for Le Pen five years ago seems to be significantly higher. A low turnout is widely believed to be bad news for the far-right leader, because it could be a sign that her supporters, who often fail to show up on voting day in the kind of numbers that the polls predicted, may again be staying away. On average, the latest polls put the two on 26% and 23% respectively, a difference that is equivalent to many polling organisations’ margin of error.

Last polls still had Macron leading the first round and winning a runoff. But they also showed Le Pen narrowing the gap and some put her within the margin ...

Last polls still had Macron leading the first round and winning a runoff. Assuming that Macron and Le Pen go through, the president faces a problem: many left-wing voters have told pollsters that, unlike in 2017, they would not cast a ballot for Macron in the runoff purely to keep Le Pen out of power. Macron was elected in 2017 on a neither-left-nor-right centrist platform but his economic and security policies veered to the right. Macron, 44 and in office since 2017, spent the last days of campaigning trying to make the point that Le Pen's programme has not changed despite efforts to soften her image and that of her National Rally party. In contrast, the anti-immigration, eurosceptic Le Pen, 53, has been boosted by a months-long focus on cost of living issues and falling support for her far-right rival, Eric Zemmour. "I think he's the only one today who has the courage ... to build the France of tomorrow," Armelle Savidan, a 47-year-old human resources manager, said after casting her ballot for Macron in Paris.

PARIS — France is voting in the first round of a presidential election that polls suggest could be uncomfortably close for President Emmanuel Macron.

Tardy, who leans to the center right, said Macron has managed to build “quite a balanced” political platform. “Five years on, the far right is even stronger.” … She’s lying to people,” Macron told the Parisien newspaper. “Perhaps I could have changed my mind ... and said in the end, well, why not Emmanuel Macron?” said Famibelle, whose parents are both from abroad. “When you’re a candidate who decides to do a short campaign, you have to have a perfect campaign. Polls predict he would now only win by a small margin of 4 to 6 percentage points — a sign of dissatisfaction with his presidency and concern about the rising cost of living. In Amiens, Macron’s hometown that overwhelmingly voted for him five years ago, left-leaning voters were torn on Saturday. This past week, she vowed to issue fines to Muslims who wear headscarves in public. And so, as a wartime leader, Macron initially saw a boost in public support. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she has distanced herself from Putin and modified her hard-line stance on immigration to make an exception for Ukrainian refugees. But he is expected to face a bigger challenge than when he trounced Le Pen by more than 30 percentage points in the 2017 presidential runoff. All other candidates polled in the single digits.

Weeks ago the president appeared sure to win a second term, but the gap narrowed significantly while he focused on the war in Ukraine and Ms Le Pen ...

She denies Mr Macron's allegations of racism. But after a late start to his campaign due to the war in Ukraine and Ms Le Pen's efforts to focus on the cost of living crisis at home, the gap in their ratings closed, with the National Rally candidate within the margin of error to achieve a victory for the first time. Weeks ago the president appeared sure to win a second term, but the gap narrowed significantly while he focused on the war in Ukraine and Ms Le Pen concentrated on issues at home.

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen appear to be the leading candidates in the first round of the French presidential elections, an analysis of early results ...

Surveys ahead of the race showed that a second round of Macron vs. While his ambitious plan to bolster the European Union's autonomy and geopolitical heft won him respect abroad and at home, he remains a divisive figure when it comes to domestic policies. Far-right political commentator turned presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who enjoyed a seat among the top three candidates until March according to IFOP polling, came in at 7%. While Macron appears on track to win the first round, he is a polarizing figure whose approval rating has lagged during his first term. Macron is seeking to become the first French president to win reelection since Jacques Chirac in 2002. Twelve candidates were running for the top job.

A flurry of early projections and exit polls showed incumbent Macron came first with 28.1-29.5% of the vote, followed by Le Pen on 23.3-24.4%. The surging cost ...

Le Pen, seen as economically left-wing despite being very much affiliated with the far fight in France, has been highly focused on the cost of living. Support for Macron had jumped following Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and his mediation efforts earlier this year. Most of the mainstream candidates that failed to make the runoff immediately backed Macron after the exit polls came in, with Mélenchon telling his supporters there "must not be one single vote for Le Pen in the second round." But it's an issue that his opponent Le Pen, who heads up the anti-immigration National Rally party — leveraged significantly in her campaign. A flurry of early projections and exit polls showed incumbent Macron came first with 28.1-29.5% of the vote, followed by Le Pen on 23.3-24.4%. The different projections showed different tallies but all pointed toward a runoff between Macron and Le Pen in two weeks' time, with the gap between the two not as tight as some political analysts had been predicting. French leader Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen topped the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, according to exit polls, and are set to face off in the final vote on April 24.

We'll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest French presidential election news every morning. Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine ...

President Emmanuel Macron is set to face his nationalist rival Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French election, according to projections by polling ...

France's presidential runoff will likely see Emmanuel Macron face off against Marine Le Pen for a second election in a row, but the woman challenging ...

Le Pen visited the Russian strongman during her 2017 campaign for president She is best known as a member of the French far-right's first family. The strategy appears to have worked.

Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen qualify for the second round of the French presidential election.

In 2017, Le Pen herself lost to Macron with close to 34 percent of the vote, a much greater share than her father. Reactions in the camp of her far-right rival Eric Zemmour will also be watched closely. Macron, meanwhile, has been perceived as taking a high-handed approach to the election, declaring his candidacy only last month, and refusing to debate with rival candidates. It is Le Pen’s third appearance —and her highest ever showing — in the first round of a presidential election. Much will now depend on which candidate can pick up the support from Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the far left, who came third in the first round with a projected vote of slightly more than 21 percent. His rival Le Pen, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, garnered 23.4 percent of the vote, according to the same projections.

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen appear to be the leading candidates in the first round of the French presidential elections, an analysis of early results ...

Macron has kept a grip on first place in most polls ahead of the election this year. Le Pen will continue to exploit this, and a major political upset therefore remains possible," said CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas of the potential second round matchup. Experts believe his strategy was to avoid the political mudslinging as long as possible to brandish his image as the most presidential of all the candidates. Surveys ahead of the race showed that a second round of Macron vs. I want a France faithful to humanism, to the spirit of enlightenment," he said. Macron is no longer a political upstart and must run on a mixed record. The candidates on track to lose have quickly begun throwing their support behind the top two. Far-right political commentator turned presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who enjoyed a seat among the top three candidates until March according to Ifop polling, came in fourth at 7%. Macron is seeking to become the first French president to win reelection since Jacques Chirac in 2002. But a second round is all but guaranteed -- no French presidential candidate has ever won in the first round under the current system. "I don't want a France which, having left Europe, would have as its only allies the international populists and xenophobes. While Macron appears on track to win the first round, he is a polarizing figure whose approval rating has lagged during his first term.

If the 2022 French election is today largely posed as a duel between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, it has also been marked by the civil war between two ...

In contrast, Zemmour stayed true to the traditional far-right argument of “ the shield and the sword.” In this revisionist perspective, Marshal Pétain is framed as the “shield,” protecting the French people from the inside, whereas de Gaulle was the “sword” fighting for France’s liberation from abroad. However, the fact that his polling has remained stable, at around 10 percent, seems to not only demonstrate that Zemmour’s voice still remains influential — it also hints at the resilience of the traditionalist line that is carefully waiting to assess its future. One example is her frequent references to the Christian roots (racines) of France, echoing the controversial expression français de souche (the French of French stock) to refer to French people with an alleged ethnic purity. Fighting against the pejorative “far right” label, Le Pen has over the years embraced a reframing of her nationalist agenda as a struggle between the “patriotic French people” against a failing political establishment that has repeatedly betrayed its promise to protect the people. Although his predicted vote share has now dwindled to 10 percent, his sudden emergence in the political field made him a threat to Le Pen’s campaign, where he was in turn framed as a factor of division that might weaken their whole camp. In a nutshell, populism articulates a society in crisis where an elite is failing in its duty to represent and act on behalf of its people, and where radical change is embodied through the salutary intervention of a transgressive leader. Zemmour is much more explicit about his reactionary vision of France than Le Pen: where both aspire to a return to a simpler time, when the nation was supposedly glorious and stronger, Zemmour makes nostalgia a central point of not only his speeches but also his political communication. Immediate success in the polls saw him rise to a third position below Macron and Le Pen as he contested a share of her vote, making her fall from 23 percent to 16 percent as he himself began polling at 16 percent. However, Le Pen was not always so subtle in her attacks against Zemmour. In a long interview for his former employer Le Figaro, she lambasted Zemmour’s campaign for relying on “sound and fury,” an implicit reference to not only Faulkner’s original work but also to the more recent Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff’s infamous book about Trump’s chaotic presidency. Le Pen knew that her niece’s rallying to Zemmour was only a matter of time, so used the upcoming betrayal as an opportunity to further humanize herself. He argues that her search for dédiabolisation — to “de-demonize” her party — led her too far from the far right’s nationalist fundamentals. During this campaign, Zemmour has been candid about his bid to rejuvenate the project of the “ union of the right wings,” which he sees as the only way to challenge Emmanuel Macron’s hegemony over the political center.

Fears of a low turnout and overall volatility have plagued the first round of France's presidential election.

She did a terrible job on television in a debate with Macron about EU policy, and at that time she wanted to leave the EU, like Britain did. “It’s something that he comes under a lot fire from the other candidates for, but I think it’s also something that drives this sense of frustration with people feeling that they’re being offered no alternative to him, that he simply doesn’t recognize the realities of their lives.” She’s steadily gained traction since her first contest in 2012, coming in second to Macron in the first round of the 2017 elections, with 20.75 percent of the vote to his 23.39 percent. But although the prediction ended up coming true, that second-time pairing makes it clear that France’s traditional parties have all but imploded, and it’s not clear what — if anything — party leaders intend to do about it. In those efforts, critics contend, he comes off as too focused on international problems and blind to the issues which affect French people the most. That’s due to a combination of factors, both Dennison and Berezin said. Dennison told Vox this frustration is a key factor in the chaotic polling leading to the first-round elections. Because traditional left parties like the Greens and the Socialist party aren’t polling high, some voters who might choose those candidates in the first round might feel they have no alternative to Macron and that it’s not worth turning out to vote. France’s elections are divided into two rounds: The first round selects the two frontrunners, and the second selects the winner, who has a five-year mandate to govern. And although his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has earned praise from the French public, he’s largely unpopular with the country’s more left-leaning population. The run-up to the first-round elections wasn’t the first indication of that shift — far from it, according to some observers — though the level of political volatility it revealed was unexpected. “What is becoming sort of complicated about the election this time around, and what is sort of frustrating a lot of voters in France, particularly those on the left — because there has been, at least until [Jean-Luc] Mélenchon started pulling forward, no real candidate on the left that had any prospect of getting through to the second round — is that I think a lot of people feel that they’re being forced to vote tactically in the first round,” Dennison said.

If the 2022 French election is today largely posed as a duel between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, it has also been marked by the civil war between two ...

In contrast, Zemmour stayed true to the traditional far-right argument of “ the shield and the sword.” In this revisionist perspective, Marshal Pétain is framed as the “shield,” protecting the French people from the inside, whereas de Gaulle was the “sword” fighting for France’s liberation from abroad. However, the fact that his polling has remained stable, at around 10 percent, seems to not only demonstrate that Zemmour’s voice still remains influential — it also hints at the resilience of the traditionalist line that is carefully waiting to assess its future. One example is her frequent references to the Christian roots (racines) of France, echoing the controversial expression français de souche (the French of French stock) to refer to French people with an alleged ethnic purity. Fighting against the pejorative “far right” label, Le Pen has over the years embraced a reframing of her nationalist agenda as a struggle between the “patriotic French people” against a failing political establishment that has repeatedly betrayed its promise to protect the people. Although his predicted vote share has now dwindled to 10 percent, his sudden emergence in the political field made him a threat to Le Pen’s campaign, where he was in turn framed as a factor of division that might weaken their whole camp. In a nutshell, populism articulates a society in crisis where an elite is failing in its duty to represent and act on behalf of its people, and where radical change is embodied through the salutary intervention of a transgressive leader. Zemmour is much more explicit about his reactionary vision of France than Le Pen: where both aspire to a return to a simpler time, when the nation was supposedly glorious and stronger, Zemmour makes nostalgia a central point of not only his speeches but also his political communication. Immediate success in the polls saw him rise to a third position below Macron and Le Pen as he contested a share of her vote, making her fall from 23 percent to 16 percent as he himself began polling at 16 percent. However, Le Pen was not always so subtle in her attacks against Zemmour. In a long interview for his former employer Le Figaro, she lambasted Zemmour’s campaign for relying on “sound and fury,” an implicit reference to not only Faulkner’s original work but also to the more recent Fire and Fury, Michael Wolff’s infamous book about Trump’s chaotic presidency. Le Pen knew that her niece’s rallying to Zemmour was only a matter of time, so used the upcoming betrayal as an opportunity to further humanize herself. He argues that her search for dédiabolisation — to “de-demonize” her party — led her too far from the far right’s nationalist fundamentals. During this campaign, Zemmour has been candid about his bid to rejuvenate the project of the “ union of the right wings,” which he sees as the only way to challenge Emmanuel Macron’s hegemony over the political center.

Emmanuel Macron wins the first round, but the run-off against his far-right rival may be far closer.

She has built her campaign around the cost-of-living crunch facing much of Europe, promising to cut taxes and waive income tax for under-30s. But in the end, the spring sunshine meant turnout was not as low as feared, at almost 75%. Mr Macron's team is already planning a series of big rallies and major TV appearances. Ifop pollster François Dabi said his company's 51%-49% estimate was the closest they had ever predicted. Later in the evening, Mélenchon activists gathered outside his campaign HQ thinking he might even come second, but it was not to be. The battle for votes now starts in earnest.

Will it be the first re-election of a president in 20 years, or third time lucky for his far-right opponent?

She would remove the right of children born in France to foreign parents to obtain French nationality in their teenage years. In 2018 Le Pen renamed the party the National Rally, seeking to get rid of the martial imagery and broaden its appeal. She has promised to renationalise motorways, scrap the TV licence fee and privatise public service broadcasting. During the Covid pandemic, he turned to state interventionism and vast public spending to protect companies and households, boasting of “nationalising wages”, which the public backed. He has promised to gradually raise the pension age from 62 to 65, an unpopular measure. He says that for the first time in 30 years, France is opening more factories that it is closing.

President Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen are headed for another winner-takes-all runoff in France's election.

Pecresse said she would vote for Macron in the runoff. Melenchon voter Jennings Tangly, a 21-year-old student of English at Paris’ Sorbonne University, said the second-round match-up was an awful prospect for her, a choice “between the plague and cholera.” But National Rally leader Le Pen, in a late surge, tapped into the foremost issue on many French voters’ minds: soaring costs for food, gas and heating due to rising inflation and the repercussions of Western sanctions on Russia. He vowed to “implement the project of progress, of French and European openness and independence we have advocated for.” Macron also is a firm supporter of NATO and of close collaboration among the European Union’s 27 members. Savvier and more polished as she makes her third attempt to become France’s first woman president, Le Pen was rewarded Sunday at the ballot box for her years-long effort to rebrand herself as more pragmatic and less extreme.

For months, the election seemed like a shoo-in for President Emmanuel Macron. It's now a tossup amid a strong challenge from the far right's Marine Le Pen.

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While earlier forecasts projected a comfortable win for Mr Macron in his re-election bid, Ms Le Pen has been narrowing this lead in recent weeks. According to ...

Ms Le Pen has insisted that French law prevails over the EU rules and would employ thousands more customs agents to check goods entering France, including those from other EU countries, to fight fraud. She also aims to scrap income tax for those under 30 and cut Vat on energy from 20 per cent to 5.5 per cent, reported Reuters. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. While earlier forecasts projected a comfortable win for Mr Macron in his re-election bid, Ms Le Pen has been narrowing this lead in recent weeks. When she was attacked by her far-right rival Eric Zemmour for “going soft”, she shot back saying: “Let me teach you about humanity.” With her party receiving a bank loan from a Russian bank in 2014 and Ms Le Pen being hosted by Mr Putin at the Kremlin ahead of the 2017 presidential election, the presidential hopeful has been accused by her opponents of being too close to Moscow.

Critics warn she's changed her style but not her far-right values. This time though, Le Pen appears much more palatable to many voters.

But I've met Melenchon supporters who've already told me they would vote for Le Pen in a run-off. By making the cost of living her central theme, she appealed to a broader church of voters. It's now or never for her - and many in her party feel this is their moment.

France's presidential runoff will likely see Emmanuel Macron face off against Marine Le Pen for a second election in a row, but the woman challenging ...

Le Pen visited the Russian strongman during her 2017 campaign for president She is best known as a member of the French far-right's first family. The strategy appears to have worked.

French president emerges in lead but tranche of far-right voters likely to transfer support to Le Pen.

Here, the far-right candidate appeared to be preaching to the converted, as just under 38% of the 871 people who voted locally chose her, and just under 22% Macron. Mélenchon has emerged as a potential kingmaker in third place after he rose to within a few points of Le Pen at just under 22% in a surprising 11th-hour surge. He also said he would “develop” his programme after listening to the “anger and despair” of those who had not voted for him, and particularly young people’s concerns over the environment. Others in the crowd that mobbed him as he walked around wanted to talk about the rising cost of living and concerns about jobs and health. We will be discussing how to revitalise our democracy and explain my manner of governing. “I want to convince our compatriots who voted for [Le Pen’s] the National Rally or who abstained to join us. Le Pen’s greatest support came from 50 to 59-year-old voters. More than 3.2 million voters who chose other far-right candidates including Éric Zemmour are likely to transfer their support to Le Pen. It was announced on Monday that Macron and Le Pen will go head-to-head in a televised debate four days before the vote, during which they will be questioned about their programmes. “We will be speaking about agriculture and being self-sufficient in production and inflation. But more than anger I am hearing worry.” “I see the divisions and anger in the country and I hear the voices of those who have voted for the extremes, even those who voted for Madame Le Pen,” he said.

STIRING-WENDEL, France— Marine Le Pen wants to remove French forces from the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and claw back powers from the ...

Instead, she has framed her candidacy around voter frustration with the rising cost of living, drawing millions of voters across middle- and working-class France who feel ignored by President Emmanuel Macron. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. STIRING-WENDEL, France—Marine Le Pen wants to remove French forces from the command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and claw back powers from the European Union. She also aims to amend France’s constitution to limit the place of immigrants in French society.

President Emmanuel Macron will face a runoff against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, following Sunday's first round of balloting.

BEARDSLEY: You know, she sort of avoided the war in Ukraine as much as she can. He's been a president of the rich and elites. And the third-place candidate very close to Le Pen is far-right (ph) leader Jean-Luc Melenchon. Believe it or not, he told his voters not to support the far right, but he didn't go so far as to endorse Macron. And the thing is the far left has a similar socioeconomic platform as the far right. They're against big finance and globalization that helps the elites and corporations. BEARDSLEY: Right. Well, Macron has 27 1/2 percent of the vote and Marine Le Pen 23 1/2. So it's a four-point spread. You know, basically, a populist would govern a major European nation. And this sets up a rematch for Macron and Le Pen, who faced each other in a presidential runoff five years ago. You know, first of all, the general context - French voters have moved to the right overall, and she's enlarged her base this time around. To the opposite, Marine Le Pen had a very long, solid campaign, and she kept it about bread-and-butter economic issues - purchasing power, the cost of living, which turned out to be the No. 1 concerns of the French. Here's her headquarters, where I was last night, her excited supporters chanting, Marine president. His whole schtick was about French identity and how immigration is ruining France, and Islam is incompatible with French values. French President Emmanuel Macron is heading into a runoff election with far-right rival Marine Le Pen. The two candidates beat out 10 others in a first round of voting yesterday. And then he was occupied with the war in Ukraine. He even refused to debate ahead of the first round.

President Emmanuel Macron will face a runoff against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, following Sunday's first round of balloting.

BEARDSLEY: You know, she sort of avoided the war in Ukraine as much as she can. He's been a president of the rich and elites. And the third-place candidate very close to Le Pen is far-right (ph) leader Jean-Luc Melenchon. Believe it or not, he told his voters not to support the far right, but he didn't go so far as to endorse Macron. And the thing is the far left has a similar socioeconomic platform as the far right. They're against big finance and globalization that helps the elites and corporations. BEARDSLEY: Right. Well, Macron has 27 1/2 percent of the vote and Marine Le Pen 23 1/2. So it's a four-point spread. You know, basically, a populist would govern a major European nation. And this sets up a rematch for Macron and Le Pen, who faced each other in a presidential runoff five years ago. You know, first of all, the general context - French voters have moved to the right overall, and she's enlarged her base this time around. To the opposite, Marine Le Pen had a very long, solid campaign, and she kept it about bread-and-butter economic issues - purchasing power, the cost of living, which turned out to be the No. 1 concerns of the French. Here's her headquarters, where I was last night, her excited supporters chanting, Marine president. His whole schtick was about French identity and how immigration is ruining France, and Islam is incompatible with French values. French President Emmanuel Macron is heading into a runoff election with far-right rival Marine Le Pen. The two candidates beat out 10 others in a first round of voting yesterday. And then he was occupied with the war in Ukraine. He even refused to debate ahead of the first round.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron may be ahead in the presidential race so far, but he warned his supporters that “nothing is done” and his ...

Macron will use the next days to “go in the field,” he said. “Our focus is now on the project and the values,” Senator Francois Patriat, a member of Macron’s party, said. That’s what he sought to do in the northern town of Denain Monday by campaigning on his rival’s home ground. On her third attempt to become France’s first woman president, Le Pen was rewarded Sunday for her years-long effort to rebrand herself as more pragmatic and less extreme. Macron already faced Le Pen in the presidential runoff five years ago. The duel is starting Monday, after the two came out on top in Sunday’s first-round vote.

Could Marine Le Pen be about to become France's first far-right president? She's battling Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the election.

While Le Pen and Macron offer two competing visions for France, the election will ultimately be decided by voters who backed other candidates. He's the one who should have been hammering her with it, but he's been too busy being the president and hasn't spent enough time being the candidate. She has spoken fondly of Vladimir Putin in the past, and more recently cautioned against imposing sanctions that could hurt the French economy. And that’s partly because Marine Le Pen has been working extremely hard for more than a decade to tone down the party’s image," said Murray. But this time it's too close to call: A poll from iFop for the broadcaster TF1 on Monday showed Macron at 51 percent, a lead so slim it's within the margin of error. She knows how to charm the target electorate."

France's 2022 presidential race is down to the same 2017 candidates: incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the far right's Marine Le Pen.

In the wake of the results, there have been calls for a barrage to block Le Pen’s advancement. Populist Le Pen, who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was one of the first international politicians to celebrate Donald Trump’s U.S. presidency, has attempted to soften her image and that of her anti-immigration party, by focusing on economic issues and playing to the countryside. In 2017, Macron beat Le Pen in a landslide final with 66% of the vote. While he has not proposed a replacement, allies have suggested funding would come from the state. While the war in Ukraine continues to dominate most headlines, the French media has naturally been focused on the election throughout yesterday and today. Newspapers in far-flung corners of the globe are not giving as many column inches as in 2017 — which saw a historic first round in which France’s major political parties did not advance.