France, the polls: the Rassemblement national ahead awaiting the first TV debate

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
PARIS – The latest Ifop/Le Figaro poll indicates a Rassemblement National (plus the right loyal to Ciotti) in the lead with 34 percent, a notable leap of 15 points more than in the legislative elections of just two years ago. Behind the bloc of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, which now also includes Marion Maréchal who has returned to her family, there is the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) of Mélenchon’s insoumis, Glucksmann’s socialists, ecologists and communistswhich rise to 29 percent. In third position is the central bloc of Macronists, trailing at 22 percent. «But for Macron’s men it is the first ray of sunshine in a long time – he says to Figaro the head of the poll, Frédéric Dabi —. The current majority may have some hope, even if for the moment it remains third.”

An unknown is the strength of the left-wing coalition, the NFP, united only by the common desire to block the way to the Rassemblement National. Divisions not only between the socialist and moderate soul of Glucksmann and the extreme one of France Insoumise, but also within the latter party, where François Ruffin has distanced himself from Jean-Luc Mélenchon and could compete with him for the position of prime minister candidate. Tuesday the first TV duel between Bardella, Attal and the national coordinator of the NFPManuel Bompard.