Polls & Research

Royal First, Le Pen Gains in France

- Ségolène Royal of the Socialist Party (PS) is now the most popular presidential contender in France, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Monde. 32 per cent of respondents would vote for Royal in next year's election.

Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is second with 29 per cent, followed by Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front (FN) with 17 per cent, and Union for French Democracy (UDF) leader François Bayrou with six per cent.

Support is lower for Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) member Olivier Besancenot, Marie-George Buffet of the French Communist Party (PCF), Arlette Laguiller of Workers' Struggle (LO), Dominique Voynet of the Greens (Verts), Movement for France (MPF) leader Philippe de Villiers, and former defence and interior minister Jean-Pierre Chevènement.

Royal is the leader of the regional government of Poitou-Charentes. Sarkozy currently serves as France's interior minister. In a prospective run-off scenario, Royal holds a six-point advantage over Sarkozy.

On Nov. 22, Le Pen revealed that he is having a hard time collecting signatures in support of his candidacy. The FN candidate said that some regional officials have not endorsed him out of fear, adding, "I ask mayors to have the courage to carry out the duty assigned to them by the law. This is about the fate of the country; they should overcome their reservations."

The UMP's Jacques Chirac won the presidential ballot in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over Le Pen in May 2002. The next election is scheduled for Apr. 22, 2007. If no candidate garners more than 50 per cent of all cast ballots, a run-off would take place on May 6.

Polling Data

Among the following candidates, for whom would there be the most chances than you vote with the first turn of the presidential election?