Photo: AFPFrench presidential candidate Francois Fillon on Thursday hit back at claims his wife had been paid €500,000 ($540,000) for a fictitious job by saying she had "always worked for me". Fillon, a conservative who is currently the presidential frontrunner in opinion polls, said British-born Penelope Fillon had been his parliamentary assistant doing tasks such as correcting his speeches and attending demonstrations. "There is not the slightest doubt that my wife has worked as a parliamentary assistant for me for years," he said in an interview with TF1 television. "My wife has always worked for me, she has always been by my side in my public life," Fillon said. 'Clean' candidateFillon's rivals in the presidential campaign are likely to use the claims against the 62-year-old, who was the surprise winner of the rightwing primary last year.

Source: The Local January 27, 2017 07:31 UTC