Despite entering the campaign late and holding only one rally before the vote, Macron appears to be in front by more than expected
French President Emmanuel Macron was on course to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of France’s elections on Sunday by a margin larger than expected.
Projections showed Mr Macron scoring 28.6 to 29.7 per cent in the first round and Ms Le Pen on 23.5 to 24.7 per cent, setting them up for a second round run-off on April 24.
Despite entering the campaign late and holding only one rally before the vote, Mr Macron appears to have performed more strongly than predicted by pre-vote opinion polls and won immediate support from defeated rivals for the second round.
Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon was predicted to come third with 19.8 to 20.8 per cent, while the candidates for France’s traditional parties of government, the Socialists and the Republicans, were on course for humiliating defeats and historic low tallies.
Far-right commentator Eric Zemmour, a political newcomer, was projected to win 6.5 to 7.1 per cent.
“It’s a new campaign that is opening now,” French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said after the publication of the projections, which led supporters of Mr Macron to erupt in joy at the candidate’s headquarters in Paris.
The final-round duel between Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen is expected to be tighter than the run-off they fought in 2017, when he won with 66 per cent of the vote.
Ms Le Pen, bidding to be France’s first woman president, looked on course for a higher first-round score than in 2017 when she won 21.3 per cent, and she will be able to pick up most of Mr Zemmour’s votes in the second round.
“I will put France in order within five years,” she told her supporters in Paris, urging “all those who did not vote for Emmanuel Macron” in the first round to back her in the second.
Comments