Next month’s EU-wide vote has been framed as a bitter contest between europhiles who want a stronger, more united bloc, and far-right populists disillusioned with the European project. The Elabe poll for the news channel BFMTV showed Mrs Le Pen’s Rassemblement national (RN), formerly the Front National, winning 21.5 per cent of the French vote, while the centrist LREM was seen winning 22.5 per cent. The poll, conducted on April 28-29, asked 1,200 French people who they would vote for if the elections were to be held the next Sunday.
Mr Macron dramatically reshaped France’s political landscape with his 2017 election victory, obliterating the traditional centre-right and centre-left blocks that dominated politics for decades.
As a result, the European contest is shaping up as a showdown between his and Mrs Le Pen’s parties, with little room left for the opposition.
The two rival movements remain in the lead, with the conservative Les Républicains party seen garnering just 15.5 per cent of the French vote, and the far-left La France Insoumise party just 8 per cent.
While europhiles like Mr Macron have called for a stronger, more ambitious Europe and deeper integration, eurosceptics like Mrs Le Pen are pushing for harder immigration laws and a
