Anti-capitalist presidential candidate likely to come third with 15% behind frontrunners François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a fiery leftist whose anti-capitalist agenda has shaken up France's presidential race, has gained four percentage points in two weeks in the polls – a result that would see him seize the third spot in the first round vote.
The same poll, for LH2/Yahoo, suggested Socialist challenger François Hollande would win the first round on 22 April with 28.5% of the vote.
That gave him two points less than a similar poll on 18 March, but kept him ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, whose campaign was boosted in the aftermath of a killing spree by an Islamist gunman. The new poll has Sarkozy unchanged on 27.5%.
But it was the result for Mélenchon, who co-heads a group of far left parties, that stood out.
He would win 15% of the first round vote, the poll suggested, pushing past far right candidate Marine Le Pen, who was on 13.5%.
His success suggests his radical leftwing rhetoric and attempts to push Hollande's agenda further to the left are paying off.
For the 6 May second round vote, the survey gave Hollande 54% and Sarkozy 46%. Hollande has lost one point since 18 March, while Sarkozy has gained one.