Macron holds first rally as France election race tightens

France President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday holds his first rally of the French election campaign, with far-right rival Marine Le Pen eating into what once seemed his unassailable lead barely a week ahead of the ballot.

The centrist Macron threw his hat into the election ring at the last moment and has been distracted by the war in Ukraine, conducting diplomacy from the Elysee while Le Pen paces the country to discuss basic issues, including purchasing power.

With the first round of elections on April 10 -- followed by a run-off on April 24 -- polls have shown Le Pen comfortably in second place in the initial stage and narrowing the gap on Macron for round two. Macron’s 1230 GMT rally before an expected crowd of 35,000 at the indoor La Defense Arena stadium -- a vast venue that usually hosts top-level rugby and rock concerts -- represents a pivotal chance for the president to regain momentum.

He will make his appearance more “physical” than traditional rallies, according to his campaign team, requiring an “energetic presence” on stage.

He will address his supporters for an hour or more, it said. The latest Elabe poll published Saturday showed Le Pen garnering 47 per cent of the vote in a second-round run-off against Macron, who was projected to win 53 per cent.

Allowing for a margin of error in the poll, this could put Le Pen in the zone to snatch victory. “Of course Marine Le Pen can win,” Macron’s former prime minister Edouard Philippe warned in an interview with the Le Parisien daily posted online Thursday.

Philippe, who is backing Macron, added that “if she wins, believe me, things will be seriously different for the country... Her programme is dangerous.”

Le Pen, who lost to Macron in the 2017 polls run-off, has sought to moderate her image in the last half decade in a process helped by the emergence of Eric Zemmour as a fellow candidate in the far-right.