Emmanuel Macron regained some momentum over far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, as France enters the final week of a closely watched election.
Two polls released Monday showed Macron’s lead over Le Pen growing slightly. He would beat the nationalist leader 56%-44% in Sunday’s runoff, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos-Sopra Steria for France Info and Le Parisien, compared with 55.5%-44.5% two days earlier.
A separate survey by Ifop-Fiducial for LCI, Paris Match and Sud Radio placed Macron ahead in the runoff, with 54.5% to 45.5% of voting intentions, up from 53.5%-46.5% three days earlier.
Macron faces a tight race against Le Pen, with both candidates rushing to woo voters who backed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round. Macron vowed to end the use of fossil fuels during a campaign rally in Marseille on Saturday, in an effort to win over left-wing voters.
Le Pen, meanwhile, is facing allegations that she and members of her National Rally party misused hundreds of thousands of euros of public funds when she was a member of the European Parliament, between 2004 and 2017. French authorities are looking into a report by the European Union’s anti-fraud office, which was first reported by investigative outlet Mediapart. Le Pen denied any wrongdoing during a campaign stop in Normandy. “I obviously and absolutely dispute these accusations,” she said.
Ipsos-Sopra Steria surveyed 1,682 adults online from April 15 to 18, with a margin of error of 3.2 points. Ifop-Fiducial polled 3,015 adults online from April 14 to 18, with a margin of error between 1.4 and 3.1 points.
