With just a month to go before the EU elections in May, the National Rally has overtaken Emmanuel Macron’s centrist movement, according to an Opinionway survey published by Les Echos. The results show the far right party led by Jordan Bardella would have 24 percent of the votes, rising by 1 percent in one month
This exceeds the majority, led by former minister Nathalie Loiseau, who lost two points in one month to 21 percent.
Mr Bardella has led a campaign to fight against the EU, which he has described as a “zombie, a life-impeder”.
He told politics news site, Politico.co.uk: “I joined the National Front for Marine Le Pen – more for her than the party.”
Meanwhile, the conservative Les Républicians party is expected to garner some 14 percent of the French vote, while the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party is expected to take 9 per cent.
The news will reinforce EU fears eurosceptic parties are to make strong gains in the May vote and comes as a shock survey found 70 percent of French people have a very bad opinion of Mr Macron – a big drop of his popularity after two years as president, since May 2017.
In June 2017, Mr Macron ranked at 55 percent of positive opinions and 45 percent of negative opinions.
But now two years later, the president has 30 percent positive opinions and 70 percent negative opinions, according to a survey by Opinionway.
The loss of 25 percent in positive opinions, places Mr Macron in a bad position among French presidents.
The vote, which takes place in each EU nation between May 23-26 and in France on May 26, is shaping up to be a bitter contest between populist, far-right parties against the EU and europhile, liberal groups fighting to save the crumbling Brussels bloc and deepen integration.
The study involved a sample of 1,965 people registered on the electoral rolls, representative of the French population aged 18 and over, with the interviews conducted from April 17 to 18 and from April 22 to 23 2019.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega