Centrist Emmanuel Macron would trounce far-right leader Marine Le Pen in France's presidential election if, as seems increasingly likely, the two face off in the second and final round of the contest on May 7, a poll showed on Tuesday. The Ipsos poll was the latest of many to show Macron and Le Pen six or seven percentage points ahead of erstwhile favorite Francois Fillon, who has been engulfed by a financial scandal involving his British wife, Penelope, and two of his children. The poll conducted on Sunday and Monday showed Le Pen and Macron respectively securing 25 and 24 percent of first-round votes, with transfer votes from eliminated candidates ensuring a resounding victory for Macron in the final two-way playoff. Fillon's British wife at the same moment faced questioning by magistrates who are investigating accusations that she got hundreds of thousands of euros of parliamentary funds from her husband for minimal work as an assistant. Since press disclosures in January that prompted the judicial investigation, Fillon, a fan of late British leader Margaret Thatcher, has tumbled from first to third place in the polls.

Source: Egypt Independent March 28, 2017 08:37 UTC