French far-right extends poll lead as campaign ends boycott

PARIS: France’s far-right National Rally (RN) extended its lead in a poll published on the last day of campaigning before Sunday’s first round of parliamentary elections, with another survey showing it in sight of a slim majority.

Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant, eurosceptic party has led polling since President Emmanuel Macron called a surprise snap election this month that has plunged France into uncertainty and unnerved European neighbours and financial markets.

A new OpinionWay poll published by Les Echos newspaper on Friday showed the RN could reach as much as 37% of the popular vote, up two percentage points on its score a week ago.

Macron’s centrist bloc Together party was seen reaching 20 percent, down by two points from the last publication. The New Popular Front leftwing alliance stood at an unchanged 28 percent of the vote.

BFM TV, in a different poll compiled by Elabe, calculated that the RN and allies could end up with 260-295 seats in the new parliament - potentially crossing the 289-seat bar for an absolute majority giving them a clear mandate to govern.