Le Pen finds fertile ground in south of France riviera
Saint-Raphael (France) March 22: Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has won over voters in many parts of France, and on the southern Rivera coast there is little doubt in many minds that she can become President in May.
The 48-year-old daughter of the National Front’s pugnacious founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has surged to the top of the poll ratings since conservative Francois Fillon lost his frontrunner status in a morass of scandals. “This time it’s for real, we’re going to win. We’ve had Brexit, Donald Trump was elected and Francois Fillon has had his scandals... The planets are lining up,” said Florent Erard, 27, head of the FN’s youth wing in the Var, the region between the southern cities of Marseille and Nice.
The Var is the FN’s heartland — the party scored nearly 45 percent here in the 2015 regional elections, compared with 28 percent in the rest of the country. In towns like Saint-Raphael, between the palm trees, yachts and glasses of rose wine, Le Pen is preaching to the converted. The biggest threat to her taking her anti-immigration and anti-European Union message to the Elysee Palace now appears to be Emmanuel Macron.