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Le Pen Sheds National Front Leadership Before Final French Vote

Le Pen Sheds National Front Leadership Before Final French Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Marine Le Pen said she stepped down as head of the National Front party to campaign for president as a "free" candidate who could represent "all the French people." 

Speaking in an interview with France 2 television, the candidate says she wants to rally French voters around her candidacy. Le Pen says she needs "only 10 little points" to win the election on May 7, citing polls that show independent rival Emmanuel Macron would beat her by a margin of 60 percent to 40 percent. 

Macron, who created his political movement one year ago, has received endorsements from former Republican rival Francois Fillon and President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, as the establishment parties unite against Le Pen. 

Le Pen became the head of the National Front in 2011, succeeding her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.

To contact the reporters on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net, John Fraher in London at jfraher@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Fraher at jfraher@bloomberg.net, C. Thompson