Seven months from the French presidential elections, there are 31 officially registered candidates for the race to the Élysée Palace. The high number of candidates reflects the French political system, which allows a wide range of competitors in presidential elections.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally party, appears in first place in the polls in both the first and second rounds of the elections. The far-right candidate thus maintains her position of favoritism in French opinion polls.
Regarding second place, there is a close competition between former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who founded the Horizons party, and the far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from the France Unbowed party. The polls show variable results, with some favoring Philippe and others favoring Mélenchon, highlighting the uncertainty about who will occupy the position of Le Pen's main challenger in the second round.
