French presidential election Le Pen

French voters will choose between two very different visions for their country during Sunday's presidential runoff election, as the centrist President ...

While Macron won 27.8% of the votes in the first round to take the top spot, the results indicated major voter discontent with the status quo. Macron's signature policy during the crisis -- requiring people to show proof of vaccination to go about their lives as normal -- helped increase vaccination rates but fired up a vocal minority against his presidency. Macron's handling of the yellow vest movement The former investment banker and economy minister must defend a mixed political record while also convincing voters that his platform, headlined by major investments in industry and fighting the climate crisis, won't simply mean more of the same. However, she has not abandoned some of her most controversial policies, like banning Muslim women from wearing headscarves in public. She also performed better in Wednesday's presidential debate

French voters head to the polls on Sunday in the second and final round of the country's presidential election, with President Emmanuel Macron and his ...

Le Pen, who took 23.1% of the first-round vote, is making her third run for the presidency. The pro-European incumbent is aiming to become the first president to win re-election since Jacques Chirac in 2002. Until then, French media are barred from quoting candidates or publishing polls to ensure they don’t influence voters.

French President Emmanuel Macron is in the pole position to win reelection Sunday in France's presidential runoff. Yet his lead over far-right rival Marine ...

In several European newspapers on Thursday, the center-left leaders of Germany, Spain and Portugal urged French voters to choose him over his nationalist rival. The question is a hard one, especially for leftist voters who dislike Macron but don’t want to see Le Pen in power either. He says that's the only way to keep benefits flowing to retirees. Macron has vowed to change the French economy to make it more independent while still protecting social benefits. Political analyst Marc Lazar, head of the History Center at Sciences Po, said even if Macron is reelected, "there is a big problem," he added. All opinion polls in recent days converge toward a win for the 44-year-old pro-European centrist — yet the margin over his nationalist rival varies broadly, from 6 to 15 percentage points, depending on the poll.

PARIS — Polls have opened in a French presidential election runoff that is being closely followed around the globe for its potential to redefine France's ...

“April 24 is a referendum on the future of France,” Macron told BFM television in a final interview on Friday evening, comparing the stakes — and potential risks of abstentionism — to the 2016 U.S. election and the Brexit vote. Le Pen renamed the party from National Front to National Rally in 2018. It would replace a fervent defender of the E.U. with a longtime critic of the bloc. When Macron faced off against Le Pen five years ago, he beat her by a margin of more 30 percentage points. And, since the surprise success of the Brexit referendum in 2016, few in Europe are willing to count out the unexpected. There’s not nearly the same level of enthusiasm for him as when he first ran in 2017, launching his own centrist political movement and becoming France’s youngest president.

It's déjà vu for French voters as Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen once again face each other in the run-off to the 2022 presidential elections.

The key issues that have driven the conversation around the election include the rising cost of living and inflation, which has been one of the significant talking points in the run-up to the election, and which Le Pen had made the focus of her campaign. He said her plans to ban Muslim women in France from wearing headscarves in public would trigger “civil war” in the country that has the largest Muslim population in western Europe, as per a Reuters report. However, the latest exit polls suggest the gap is narrower this time, with Macron predicted to net 57.5 per cent of the votes and Le Pen 42.5 per cent. The difference between the preliminary and final results are usually around 1 per cent to 2 per cent, as per local media reports. In this year’s first round of voting, held on April 10, incumbent Macron clocked in the largest chunk of votes at 27.85 per cent. If not, as was the case in 2022, the second round of voting is held.

The French vote on Sunday in an election that will decide whether pro-European Union, centrist President Emmanuel Macron keeps his job or is unseated by ...

Le Pen, who has also been criticised by Macron for her past admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin, rejects accusations of racism. But she added that many of her clients would vote for the far-right candidate because they dislike Macron. Shockwaves would be felt across Europe and beyond. "She is close to the people. "Emmanuel Macron is considered arrogant by more than one in two voters and Marine Le Pen remains scary for half of them." She has also zeroed in on Macron's abrasive leadership style, which she says shows an elitist contempt for ordinary people.