Presidential: the gap between Macron and Le Pen narrows further in the second round, according to a poll

After an increase in voting intentions against him in March, the outgoing president lost points, while the National Rally candidate progressed. The gap between outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen narrowed in case of confrontation in the second round of the presidential election, according to a Harris Interactive poll for Challenges on Monday. According to their previous surveys, the duel fluctuated between 53-47% and 58-42% in March, but the latest poll highlights a fall of Emmanuel Macron to 51.5% of voting intentions, against 48.5% for Marine Le Pen. Only three points therefore now separate the two candidates. An increase in intentions for Macron at the start of the war in Ukraine This rapprochement had already been observed in our Elabe poll last week, while in one week, the outgoing president had recorded a drop of 3.5 points. The two candidates have overall never been so close in voting intentions in the second round. This drop in Emmanuel Macron’s rating comes after a rise, attributed to the war in Ukraine, at the gates of the European Union. But as Challenges notes, this subject, which has become a real concern in France, “regresses to twelfth position among the concerns of the French”. On the other hand, Marine Le Pen could benefit from her campaign centered on purchasing power, while energy prices have been rising sharply for several months. remains excluded from a passage to the second round. The survey conducted by Harris Interactive was carried out online from April 1 to 4, 2022 on a sample of 2,531 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over, including 2,200 people registered on the electoral lists, using the quota method. Voting intentions do not constitute a forecast of the outcome of the ballot. They give an indication of the balance of power and dynamics on the day of the survey.Salomé Vincendon Journalist BFMTV