Populist Marine Le Pen Takes Lead in Polls as French Elections Approach

A new poll finds that populist leader Marine Le Pen now leads France’s presidential race while the incumbent Socialist Party has plummeted in popularity.

Thursday’s poll, conducted by CEVIPOF (Centre de Recherche de Sciences Po) in partnership with the French daily Le Monde, shows Le Pen of the populist National Front (FN) with between 25 and 26 percent of the vote, while the Socialist Party’s Benoît Hamon and Arnaud Montebourg (PS) received only 7% of voting intentions.

The Socialists will be holding an open presidential primary on January 22, followed by a runoff election a week later to choose between the two candidates with the most votes. The presidential election itself will take place on April 23, with the possibility of a run-off election in May should no candidate obtain an absolute majority.

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