The French Presidential race heats up

The results of new opinion polls revealed today show that Hollande may not have such an easy ride in becoming president of France.  Sarkozy is set to take the lead in the first round 28.5% to Hollande’s 27%, leading to a run off in the second round.  This comes on the back of Sarkozy’s largest rally last week, where he pledged to halve the number of immigrants and re-negotiate France participation in the Schengen accord.  This seems to have struck a chord with the French electorate.

France is still tipped to have a socialist president with Hollande winning in the run off.  Hollande is currently pledging increased spending and raising the top rate of tax to 45%.  Sarkozy has followed Hollande stance with promising to target tax exiles who leave France to specifically to avoid their tax regime.

All this comes from Le Pen’s confirmation on Tuesday that she will now be an official presidential candidate for Front National, gaining the 500 signatories needed.  There was speculation that she might not have gained the 500 signatures needed to stand as a candidate, which comprise of elected officials as they had to openly declare their names, before the deadline this Friday.  If Le Pen had not gained the signatures, her voters may have swung to Sarkozy, giving him an even wider lead.  Le Pen currently has 16% of the vote, which has been falling consistently over the Past few weeks.  Le Pen stated that “From today onwards, millions of citizens are feeling hopeful again…now they have someone that represents them in the election”.  Let’s hope they feel hopeful of a Socialist victory.


This article was also published on left foot forward.  Click here