France’s far-right is reaching out to voters who backed the defeated far-left contender, hoping to peel away voters from the extremes of the political spectrum.
With 97% of polling stations declared, newcomer Macron was leading the field with 23.9%. National Front leader Le Pen was close behind on 21.4%.
The 7th May runoff will be between the populist Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, and French politicians on the moderate left and right immediately urged voters to block Le Pen’s path to power.
The defeated far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, pointedly refused to do the same.