Outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, who is running for re-election after five years in power, is the favorite in all vote intention polls
France holds presidential elections on April 10 and 24. A two-round election in which twelve candidates, four women and eight men, will compete for the keys to the Elysée Palace. Outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, who is running for re-election after five years in power, is the favorite in all voting intention polls, followed by far-right Marine Le Pen. Both candidates already faced each other in 2017 at the polls and could do so again on April 24, if the polls do not fail.
From an ideological point of view, there are three candidates from the extreme right (Marine Le Pen, Éric Zemmour and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan), one from the moderate right (Valérie Pécresse), one centrist (Macron), one from the moderate left (Anne Hidalgo), an environmentalist (Yannick Jadot), four candidates from the extreme left (Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the communist Fabien Roussel, the anti-capitalist Philippe Poutou and the radical left-wing candidate Nathalie Arthaud) and a defender of the rural world (Jean Lassalle). .
44 years old, candidate of The Republic on the Move (LRM)
Emmanuel Macron
President of France since May 2017. Before that, he was minister of the socialist François Hollande. He won the elections promising a renewal of political life and the overcoming of the traditional left-right axis.
He is running for re-election after five years in power. He was the last to announce his candidacy, as he has been very busy with the health crisis, the war in Ukraine and a busy European schedule. He did it in March with “a letter to the French.” He has refused to debate with other candidates before the first round, arguing that his predecessors in office did not do so either when they stood for re-election. He starts as the favorite in the polls.
53 years old, candidate for National Regrouping (former National Front)
Marine LePen
Deputy. She is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, a historical leader of the extreme right and founder of the National Front. She is running for the third time in a presidential election. In 2017 she managed to qualify for the second round, but was defeated by Macron at the polls.
Since assuming the leadership of the party, he has tried to “demonize” the formation, kicking out the most radical members and softening its program with the aim of conquering the Elysee Palace. She is second in the polls, behind Macron, despite the irruption on the French political scene of the far-right Eriz Zemmour, his main rival.
Marine LePen /
70 years old, candidate of La France Insumisa (LFI)
Jean-Luc Melechon
Deputy. The leader of La Francia Insumisa, a party equivalent to Podemos in France, is the only left-wing candidate with a chance of qualifying for the second round. It is the third and last time that he appears in the presidential elections. He is third in voting intention, behind Macron and Le Pen.
A former socialist senator and minister, he founded his own party as he believes that the Socialist Party had become too far to the right. He proposes the convening of a Constituent Assembly to draw up a new French Constitution to establish the VI Republic. His opponents accuse him of being anti-European and of supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin. He promises his retirement at 60 years old.
Jean-Luc Mélechon /
63 years old, Reconquest candidate
Eric Zemmour
Before making the leap into politics, he worked as a journalist for the conservative daily Le Figaro and as a talk show host for the CNews television network, in addition to writing essays, which have become best sellers.
He announced his candidacy last November and revolutionized the electoral campaign with his proclamations against immigrants and Muslims. He espouses the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Beside her, Le Pen appears subdued.
After skyrocketing in the voting intention polls, he is now fourth. He dreams of being a bridge between the moderate right and the extreme right. He has won the support of Marion Maréchal, Marine Le Pen’s niece and muse of the most traditionalist extreme right.
Eric Zemmour /
54 years old, candidate of the Republicans (LR)
Valerie Pecresse
President of the Île-de-France (Paris region) since 2015. She likes to compare herself to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She left Los Republicanos in 2019 to found her own party, Libres. She rejoined the Conservative Party in October so she could run in the right-wing primary, which she won. She is fifth in the polls.
She has been an auditor in the Council of State, an adviser to President Jacques Chirac, a deputy, a government spokesperson and twice a minister with Nicolas Sarkozy. The former conservative president has not publicly given her support, despite her being the candidate of her party. Sarkozy’s silence hampers her campaign.
Valerie Pecresse /
54 years old, candidate for Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV)
Yannick Jadot
MEP since 2009. He began his career as an activist in Greenpeace and made the leap to politics in 2008. He won the environmental primaries. He is running for election with “an environmentalist, social and republican project.” In 2017, he was also a candidate, but in the end he gave up his candidacy, giving his support to the socialist Benoît Hamon in the race for the Elysee. He is now sixth in the polls.
Yannick Jadot /
62 years old, candidate of the Socialist Party (PS)
Anne Hidalgo
Mayor of Paris since 2014. She was born in San Fernando (Cádiz). She is the daughter of Spanish immigrants and she became a French citizen at the age of 14. She promises, if she is elected president, “a social, European, secular and ecological Republic.” She is seen as too Parisian by many French voters. She is totally sunk in the polls, which give her a 2% vote intention for the first round.
Anne Hidalgo /
52 years old, candidate of the French Communist Party (PCF)
Fabien Roussel
Member of a constituency in the north of France. He has been secretary general of the PCF since November 2018. Before entering politics, he was a journalist. He wants to be the candidate of a left that brings prosperity to the popular classes and promises “a France of happy days.” He created a stir in the campaign by presenting himself as a staunch defender of fine French gastronomy: “a good wine, a good meat and a good cheese.”
Fabien Roussel /
66 years old, candidate of the Resistons party (Let’s Resist)
jean lassalle
Deputy since 2002 and defender of the rural world. He was mayor. He is a very popular politician. In 2013, he went on a walking tour of France to “meet the French”. In 2018, he created controversy by going to the National Assembly wearing a yellow vest, a symbol of the protests against Macron. He ran for the first time in the 2017 presidential election and finished seventh with 1.21% of the vote. The polls give him a 3% vote intention.
Jean Lassalle /
61 years old, candidate for Debout la France (France, standing)
Nicholas Dupont-Aignan
Deputy since 1997. He was mayor for 22 years. He is the leader of a far-right party. He considers himself Gaullist, pro-sovereignty and Eurosceptic. During the health crisis, he protested against the imposition by the French Government of the Covid certificate to access certain public places. It is the third time that he appears in the presidential elections. The polls give him a 2% vote intention.
Nicholas Dupont-Aignan /
52 years old, candidate of the Workers’ Struggle (LO) party
Nathalie Arthaud
Professor of economics and management in the Paris region. She has been a member of the Trotskyist party Lucha Obrera since she was 18 years old. It is the third time that she appears in the presidential elections. She wants foreigners residing in France to be able to vote in all elections in France and promises retirement at age 60 and decriminalizing cannabis use.
Nathalie Arthaud /
55 years old, candidate of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA)
Philippe Poutou
Trotskyist candidate, like Nathalie Arthaud. He was a Ford worker and a union member of the CGT. It is the third time that he stands for presidential elections. He wants to establish a citizens’ initiative referendum, leave NATO, legalize euthanasia and decriminalize cannabis use.
Philippe Poutou /
A two-round election
The President of the French Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years, renewable once consecutively. The candidate who obtains the absolute majority of the votes cast is elected. If none of the candidates obtains an absolute majority in the first round, a second round will be held. Only the two most voted candidates advance to the second round.
Some 48.7 million voters are registered on the electoral lists, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). The French had until March 4 as the deadline to register on the electoral roll to be able to vote in these elections.
#twelve #candidates #French #presidential #elections