France’s Le Pen leading in new presidential polls

[Valin]

Times of Israel/AFP:

Elections scheduled for 2017, but dissatisfaction with current leader Francois Hollande is rife

AFP

September 7, 2014

 

PARIS, France — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen would win the first round of presidential elections in 2017, beating Socialist incumbent Francois Hollande and any candidate from the right, an opinion poll said Friday.

 

But the leader of the National Front, which has gained tremendous ground this year topping municipal and European elections, would be beaten in the second round by the candidate from the center-right UMP party, be it former president Nicolas Sarkozy, or ex-prime ministers Francois Fillon or Alain Juppe, an Ifop poll for Le Figaro daily said.

 

Hollande, who is battling record unpopularity amid rocketing joblessness and a flat-lining economy, insisted on Friday he would not step down before the end of his term in 2017.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Le Pen Soars in Polls as EU Erodes
September 8, 2014

The far-right French politician Marine Le Pen has just scored her biggest PR victory yet. Previous polls have shown that if the 2017 French elections were held today Le Pen would defeat current president François Hollande in the first round—a remarkable feat, but one Le Pen’s father also pulled off in 2002. French presidential elections feature a second round runoff as well, which was where Le Pen senior faltered. The latest poll, however, shows that Marine Le Pen would defeat Hollande in that round, taking 54 percent of the vote to his 46 percent. Haaretz:

Candidates who Le Pen would beat in the first round of an election, according to the poll, include former prime ministers Alain Juppé and François Fillon and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, taking 28 percent to his 25 percent.

But the only candidate she would win against in a second round run-off is Hollande, according to the poll.

Le Pen’s surge in the polls may seem unexpected, but it reflects a wider trend toward strengthening nationalist movements as well as far-right revivals in various places across the European Union. Support for Scottish independence is rising—and now in Northern Ireland too. Not only Le Pen’s National Front party, but also the far-right UKIP party in England is flourishing.......(Snip)