Marine Le Pen

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 ...

French polling agencies projected Sunday that incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen are heading for another winner-takes-all ru.

To beat Le Pen in the runoff, Macron must pick apart her years-long rebranding effort to make herself seem less extreme, a makeover that has including showing off her love of cats. But National Rally leader Le Pen ate into his polling lead in the campaign's closing stages, as the pain of rising gas, food and energy prices became a dominant election theme for many low-income households. She called on those who didn't vote for Macron in the first round to join her for the second. The projections showed both Macron and Le Pen on course to improve on their 2017 first-round showings, highlighting how French politics have increasingly become polarized. Melenchon, addressing his supporters, some of them in tears, repeated three times that Le Pen shouldn't get "one single vote." Le Pen is promising seismic shifts for France — both domestically and internationally — if elected as the country's first woman president, and appears closer than ever to have a chance of reaching the presidential Elysee Palace.

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.

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

Twelve candidates were in the running, but these were the only three who polled more than 10 percent. He only started campaigning eight days before, his mind more focused on Russia's war in Ukraine. Ifop pollster François Dabi said his company's 51 percent-49 percent estimate was the closest they had ever predicted. He addressed Le Pen voters too: "I want to convince them in the next few days that our project answers solidly to their fears and challenges of our time." Addressing his supporters, Macron looked a relieved man and he promised to work harder than in the first part of the campaign. With 96 percent of results counted, Emmanuel Macron had 27.42 percent of the vote, Marine Le Pen 24.03 percent and Jean-Luc Mélenchon 21.57 percent.

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.

We'll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest French presidential election news every morning. “The policies that I represent are the policies ...

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.

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.