French far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was dealt a fresh blow on Sunday as her party’s only senator became the latest member to throw his support behind rival Eric Zemmour ahead of April’s election, Reuters reports.
Polls currently show Le Pen reaching a second round run-off against President Emmanuel Macron, who is then on course to win a second five-year term in office.
Though Le Pen is polling better than Zemmour, she is struggling to breathe new life into her campaign after a number of defections of which Senator Stephane Ravier is the latest and most high profile.
“I remember why I joined the Front National 30 years ago. I had ideas, convictions, they have not changed. Today, these ideas are no longer carried by Marine Le Pen but by Éric Zemmour. I will therefore support Éric Zemmour for this presidential election,” he Tweeted.
Le Pen, who lost to Macron in a 2017 run-off election for president, has in recent years tried to make her party more palatable to traditional conservative and working class voters, however that has turned off some core supporters who have instead backed Zemmour, a former journalist who has been convicted of inciting racial hatred.
Zemmour, who says he wants to save France from decadence and minorities that “oppress the majority”, has made a career of testing the limits of political correctness.
Last month Le Pen’s niece Marion Marechal, a popular figure among far-right voters, said Zemmour was a better candidate, and two EU lawmakers defected.
So far the defections have not translated into meaningful gains for Zemmour in the polls, which currently put him in fourth place behind Macron, Le Pen and Valerie Pecresse, the conservative Republicans’ candidate.
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