Green French Presidential candidate Yannick Jadot endorses Emmanuel Macron for second round

Polls have now closed in the first round of the French presidential election. Projections based on a sample of votes cast indicate that the second round run-off will be between the incumbent Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen from the far right National Rally party. The primary left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is projected to come third, only a few percentage points behind Le Pen.

Meanwhile, the Greens’ candidate Yannick Jadot is currently projected to come in sixth place with 4.5 per cent of the vote. Following the initial projections, Jadot called for his supporters to vote for Macron in the second round poll. According to reports, Jadot has said, “I appeal to the ecologist voters to block the way to the extreme right, by casting a vote for Emmanuel Macron”.

Jadot joins other presidential candidates on the left in endorsing Macron. Anne Hidalgo – the centre left Socialist Party’s candidate – endorsed Macron following the initial projections. Likewise, the French Communist Party’s Fabien Roussel has also backed Macron. At present, Melenchon has thus far stopped short of calling for his supporters to back Macron. He has, however, said “we must not give a single vote to Madame le Pen!” 

The second, run-off round of the French Presidential election will take place on April 24. In the 2017 Presidential election, Macron defeated Le Pen in the run-off by 66 per cent – 34 per cent. Opinion polls for the run-off this year show a much closer race, with Macron averaging around 52 per cent to Le Pen’s 47 per cent.

Image credit: European Parliament – Creative Commons