A new poll on France's 2027 presidential election has revealed a sharp divide between generations, with young voters gravitating toward the most radical candidates on offer, according to political analyst Pierre Giacometti.
Giacometti, co-founder of the communications agency NoCom, examined data from the Ifop-Fiducial barometer, a survey carried out for LCI, Le Figaro and Sud Radio in late August that measured voting intentions ahead of the 2027 presidential race. Speaking on LCI, he compared the current field of candidates to "a Formula 1 grand prix starting grid."
Giacometti said he focused on specific sociological groups, including voters under 35, those over 65, working-class voters and wealthier voters, and looked at how they were splitting their support among candidates Marine Le Pen, Édouard Philippe and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Young voters split between Mélenchon and Le Pen
Giacometti said younger generations were clearly choosing radical options in this election. He said two-thirds of voters under 35 were backing either Mélenchon, who polled at 37 percent among that group, or Le Pen, who polled at 29 percent, describing genuine competition between the two candidates for young voters.
Le Pen gains among older and working-class voters
Giacometti also noted that Le Pen, the Rassemblement National candidate, had made significant progress among older voters, drawing 28 percent of voting intentions in that category. He said this was notable because older voters turn out to vote at higher rates than the French average.
The most striking figure, he said, was Le Pen's 51 percent support among working-class voters, far ahead of Philippe at 8 percent and Mélenchon at 23 percent in that same group.
Marine Le Pen has led the Rassemblement National, France's main far-right party, in previous presidential campaigns. Édouard Philippe, a former prime minister, now leads his own centrist party, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the leading figure of the left-wing La France Insoumise movement.
