Pecresse vs. Le Pen Major Early Contest Of 2022 According To Latest Poll

The latest Opinion Way/Kea first-round opinion poll ahead of the April presidential elections shows incumbent President Emmanuel Macron with a comfortable lead over his challengers. The most significant contest (in the first round at least) is set to be between centre-right Gaullist Les Republicains (LR) candidate Valerie Pecresse and right-wing Rassembelement National (RN) leader Marine Le Pen.

• OpinionWay/Kéa poll: Presidential election: Macron (LREM-RE): 25% (-1), Pécresse (LR-EPP): 17% (+1), Le Pen (RN-ID): 16%, Zemmour (REC-*): 13%, Mélenchon (LFI-LEFT): 9%. +/- vs. 2-4 January 2022. Fieldwork: 3-5 January 2022. Sample size: 1,501
• Should right-wingers Le Pen or Eric Zemmour make the second-round run off (contested between the top two first round candidates), Emmanuel Macron would be the overwhelming favourite to retain office.
• However, in a contest against the moderate, pro-EU Pecresse, the race would likely prove much tighter, raising the prospect of Macron's defeat.
• Earlier this week Macron caused a major stir by stating in crude terms that he wants to make life for unvaccinated people in France as difficult as possible. This resulted in a halt to debate in the National Assembly, where opponents said Macron's langague was "unworthy, irresponsible and premeditated".