French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s party held onto its lead in opinion polls published Friday ahead of legislative elections, but its chance of wielding an absolute majority was receding.
The anti-immigrant, eurosceptic National Rally (RN) remains on course to be the biggest party in parliament after Sunday’s second-round vote but is not expected to win an outright victory and the keys to power.
According to Ipsos, the RN could secure 175 to 205 seats in the National Assembly. Rival pollster Ifop thinks this number could rise to 210, but both estimates fall short of 289, an absolute majority.
The Ipsos Talan poll for Le Monde, Radio France and France Televisions has the RN coming in just ahead of left-wing alliance the New Popular Front, credited with between 145 and 175 seats.
Both the far-right and left-wing groups come in well ahead of an estimated 118 to 148 for President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist allies, who held 250 seats in the outgoing parliament.
The latest polls seem to confirm that the race is tightening since the first round on June 30, when Le Pen’s RN won a clear lead, forcing the centrist and left-wing groups into electoral pacts ahead of the second round.
