French Presidential Election 2022 odds and polls: is Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen favourite to win?

French president Emmanuel Macron is set to face far-right candidate Marine le Pen in this year’s French presidential election.

Voters will head to the polls to decide between the two candidates, with either Macron being sworn in for a second term or Le Pen unseating the current leader.

The race is expected to be close, with Le Pen picking up momentum in the past few weeks.

Here’s everything you need to know about the election.

Who is favourite to win the French presidential election 2022?

According to PaddyPower, Emmanuel Macron is favourite to win the election and serve a second term as president.

The odds of him winning the election currently sit at 1/10, while Le Pen’s odds sit at 11/2.

Macron is expected to pick up votes from left-leaning cadidates who crashed out during the first round of voting, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon who represents La France Insoumise.

Le Pen beat Mélenchon in first round voting by only 1.2%.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy has thrown his weight behind Macron in the election.

He said: “I will vote for Emmanuel Macron because I believe he has the necessary experience in the face of grave international crisis. His economic project puts the value of work as the top priority and his commitment to Europe is clear and unambigious.”

However, Le Pen, who is standing for far-right party National Rally, could still cause an upset, with her odds shortening in the past few weeks.

What are the polls saying about the French election 2022?

Poling group Institut Français D’opinion Publique (IFOP) has released polling which points towards a Macron win later this month.

The IFOP has estimated in its rolling poll that Macron will win the election with 52.5% of the vote.

Mujtaba Rahman, from geopolitical risk firm Eurasia Group, said that the recent polls, in which Macron finds him self in a more favourable position, “suggests numbers are moving in Macron’s direction.”

Current polling from POLITICO shows that Macron will win with 54% of the vote vesus Le Pen’s 46%.

When is the French election 2022?

The first round of voting closed on 10 April.

It was in this round that it was confirmed that Macron would face Le Pen in the run-off vote, with voters heading to the voting booths on 24 April.

First round voting saw 12 candidates compete to take part in the run-off, with only two proceeding.

Who is Marine Le Pen?

Macron’s contentor Marine Le Pen has been a prominent figure in French politics for many years, representing the far-right National Rally party.

She has represented the constiuency of Pas-de-Calais in the French National Assembly since 2017.

Her father was the founder of the National Rally party, which was previously named National Front.

The 2022 presidential election marks Le Pen’s thrid attempt at running for president, and her second election against Macron.

The first of her attempts saw her crash out in first round voting in 2012, with François Hollande eventually suceeding in the race.

She then faced Macron in 2017, however she withdrew from the race after only receiveing 33.5% of the vote in the second round.

Le Pen has previously been supportive of Vladimir Putin and Russia.

Despite this she has condemned the war in Ukraine, but did say that France and Russia could become allies again if the conflict was to cease.