Mrs Le Pen’s Rassemblement national came first in France in the last EU vote in 2014 (Image: Chesnot/Getty Images)
The French nationalist and her Italian ally Matteo Salvini hope their Europe of Nations and Freedom bloc will become the third largest in Brussels, allowing them to upend the status quo. The poll of 2,750 people, conducted on May 18-22 for Paris Match magazine, CNews television and Sud Radio, showed Mr Macron’s pro-Europe REM party coming in second place with 23 per cent of the vote. The right-wing Les Républicains party is expected to come in third position with 14 per cent of the vote, followed by the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) with 8.5 per cent and the green Europe Ecologie Les Verts party with 6.5 per cent.
Mrs Le Pen’s Rassemblement national (RN), formerly known as the Front National, came first in France in the last EU vote in 2014, partly as a result of low turnout, although nationalist parties have since seen a rise in support across Europe.
With just four days to go before French voters elect their representatives for the 751-seat parliament, the election is becoming both a referendum on Mr Macron’s first two years in power and a vote of confidence in the EU.
Fearful a second place could hurt his reform ambitions at home and erode his political clout in Europe, Mr Macron has ramped up calls for cooperation from conservatives, socialists and Greens to face down eurosceptic forces.
This “grand coalition of progressives” will enable pro-Europeans to fight “those who want to destroy Europe through nationalism,” Mr Macron told reporters earlier this week, shortly before
