Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen are set to debate each other live on television tonight
(AFP via Getty Images)
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen are set to face each other in a live television debate ahead of an election that will decide France’s next president.
Both remaining candidates will go head-to-head at 9pm local time (7pm BST) in a debate lasting two-and-a-half hours.
Bookmakers are predicting a win for Mr Macron, the centrist current president, in the election on Sunday, with his lead over his far-right challenger edging higher over the past few days.
Marine Le Pen and the Kremlin
Borzou Daragahiour international correspondent, has taken a look at heightened scrunity over Marine Le Pen’s ties with the Kremlin as the war in Ukraine wages on.
The far-right candidate has previously expressed support for Vladimir Putin – and was even forced to destroy thousands of copies of campaign material that featured photos of the pair after the Ukrainian invasion was launched.
Read his report from Paris here:
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 19:34
Candidates ‘to try and reach out to undecided voters’
Candidates are expected to try and reach out to undecided voters or those who “aren’t even planning to vote” on Sunday, reporter Claire Paccalin says.
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 19:16
Debate to influence how more than a fifth vote, poll finds
The debate could be a crucial moment in the French presidential election.
Some 14 per cent of voters are waiting for the debate to decide who to vote for, while 12 per cent say it will be decisive for whether they will vote at all, according to a poll by OpinionWay-Kea Partners for The echoes newspaper.
Sources on both sides said they wanted a calm debate. One close to Emmanuel Macron said it could be “boring” and the president had to show he was “solid.”
A source close to Marine Le Pen said she wanted “a calm debate, project vs project”.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 18:59
Watch discussion
The debate will be kicking off in an hour.
I’ll be posting updates throughout here. Or for the full thing, you can watch live on the English-language France 24:
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 18:55
How are things looking for Emmanuel Macron?
French President Emmanuel Macron has a more than 90 per cent chance of winning Sunday’s presidential runoff vote against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen, the odds offered by UK political bookmakers showed on Wednesday.
Macron has seen his lead in opinion polls edge higher over the past few days to over 55 per cent on average against 5 per cent in favor of his rival whom he will face in a debate later on Wednesday.
The websites of William Hill and Paddy Power gave odds implying a 90.9 per cent chance for the incumbent, while the Betfair Exchange had 92.6 per cent and Ladbrokes 94.1 per cent.
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 18:30
What happened in the first round of voting?
The two candidates are going to face each other in a head-to-head vote on Sunday, following the results of the first round.
Catch up on what happened ahead of tonight’s debate:
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 18:28
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the French election debate, which is set to kick off shortly.
Zoe Tidmann20 April 2022 16:26
www.independent.co.uk
George Holan is chief editor at Plainsmen Post and has articles published in many notable publications in the last decade.
