Macron Is France’s Most Popular Politician, Elabe Poll Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron is France’s most popular politician, while rival Francois Fillon ranks third, an Elabe poll published Thursday showed.

About 41 percent of those interviewed said they had a positive image if Macron, up 2 points in a month, compared with 35 percent for Republican presidential candidate Fillon and 29 percent for National Front leader Marine Le Pen, according to the poll.

Popularity doesn’t translate directly into electoral support, though the poll gives a sense of broad perceptions of the three candidates who are currently leading the race to replace President Francois Hollande next May. Elabe interviewed 1,002 voters on Jan. 10 and 11. The poll’s margin of error is 3 percentage points.

Alain Juppe, whom Fillon defeated in the primary contest for the Republicans’ nomination, is the country’s second-most popular politician with positive views of 40 percent of those surveyed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Deen in Paris at markdeen@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss, Catherine Bosley