Marine Le Pen Surges to Record 47 per cent Weeks Out from French Election
The Front National leader rose from her previous high of 45 per cent to 47 per cent in a head-to-head second round battle against conservative candidate Francois Fillon, according to an Ifop poll.
Fillon's lead against Le Pen dropped to 53 per cent as the gap closes between the two candidates.
France: Presidential election (run-off), ELABE poll:
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) April 6, 2017
Fillon: 57% (+3)
Le Pen: 43% (-3)#Sondage
Although Emmanuel Macron is tipped to make it past the first round of voting to take on Le Pen, the latest poll found Fillon was just four points behind the centrist candidate in the first round in an Opinion Way poll.
Another Opinion Way poll found Le Pen will win the first round of the French presidential voting with 26 per cent. Macron is currently polling at 24 per cent, with Fillon in third with 20 per cent.
An Ifop poll also found Le Pen was at an all time record high against Macron in the second round at 40.5 per cent.
The En Marche centrist will currently scoop 60 per cent of the vote to Le Pen’s 40 per cent in the latest poll – with the right-wing candidate gaining around five points on average since the start of 2017.
Young voters are turning to Le Pen as disillusionment with mainstream politics continues to spread throughout the western world.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight host Evan Davis in France, Cedric said: "I think I will vote Front National just to try it out. We've tried different parties and they've all failed. So why not try her, even if her ideas are a little extreme."
His friend, Yoann, added: "Most young people support Marine Le Pen. They're totally fed up with unemployment levels and also the fact that we keep having terrorist attacks in our country. We don't want our children to live in a world like that."
The first round of the French presidential election is scheduled for April 23. The top two candidates will progress to a run-off vote on May 7.
