Polls tight in France's most uncertain election in decades

Record ID: 645174

  • Title: Polls tight in France's most uncertain election in decades
  • Date: 18th April 2017
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (APRIL 18, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTERS PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE IN STREET VARIOUS OF HEAD OF POLLSTER POLLINGVOX, JEROME SAINTE-MARIE, BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF POLLSTER POLLINGVOX, JEROME SAINTE-MARIE, SAYING: "The polls are currently showing the gap between the four main candidates closing. You have two candidates who remain ahead, (far-right) Marine Le Pen and (centrist) Emmanuel Macron, but they look like they might soon be joined by (conservative) Francois Fillon but also -- and this is the great surprise of the election -- by (leftist) Jean-Luc Melenchon. Currently to get through to the second round candidates need only about 21 or 22 percent so anything's possible."
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2017 16:10
  • Keywords: France election poll Macron Melenchon Le Pen Fillon voting
  • Location: RUNGIS, NICE AND PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: RUNGIS, NICE AND PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016CXFQDJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Only a handful of points separated the top four candidates in opinion polls on Tuesday (April 18) for France's presidential election, making it the most uncertain in decades.
    The latest Opinionway-Opri poll published for Les Echos and Radio Classique published at lunchtime saw centrist Emmanuel Macron leading the pack for the first round on Sunday (April 23) with 23 percent, with the far-right's Marine Le Pen on 22 percent and conservative Francois Fillon on 20 percent.
    Such a tight gap will unsettle Le Pen and Macron who have looked most likely to progress to the run-off on May 7 which will decide the presidency.
    All polls show Le Pen making the second round but none have shown her winning, beaten by any of her rivals including the hard left's Jean-Luc Melenchon.
    Such figures put the polling within the margin of error and mean that "anything's possible" according to the head of PollingVox Jerome Sainte-Marie, who said the election is the most uncertain of his career.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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