But Le Pen’s far-right rival Eric Zemmour, who garnered just more than 7 per cent on Sunday, has already thrown his weight behind her and while Macron can expect to pick up many centre-left and centre-right votes he may struggle to persuade Melenchon voters to back him, analysts said.
Le Pen, 53, said the run-off would present “a fundamental choice between two visions”. It would be a “choice of society and even of civilisation”, she said.
The election campaign has been overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, with surging prices of everyday goods making the cost of living a key issues.
The vote’s outcome will have major implications for the European Union, which Le Pen says she wants to radically reform. She has also said she wants to pull out of NATO’s joint military command.
Macron countered on Sunday that he did not want a France which “once out of Europe, would only have the international alliance of populists and xenophobes as allies. That’s not us”.
A pivotal moment in the next stage of the campaign will come on Apr 20 when the two candidates are set to take part in a TV debate broadcast live on national television which often has a crucial impact on the final outcome.
While her opponents accuse her of being divisive and racist, Le Pen has sought to project a more moderate image in this campaign and has focused on voters’ daily worries over inflation.
But Macron is expected to target her past proximity with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, her policies on the EU, as well as the cost of her economic programme that includes massive tax cuts.
“NEW METHOD”
A win would give Macron, who came to power in 2017 aged 39 as France’s youngest president, five more years to push through reforms that would include raising the pension age to 65 from 62 and enacting further tax cuts for businesses.
He also floated the idea on Sunday night of a “large movement of political unity and action” and a “new method” of governing, which could see him invite rival parties to formally join his political movement.
Among the other candidates, Sunday’s vote spelled humiliation for Socialist Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, who won only 1.7 per cent, a historic low for the party which only a decade ago won the presidency.
The vote for the right-wing Republicans party, headed by nominee Valerie Pecresse, also collapsed to an estimated 4.8 per cent, down from 20 per cent in 2017.
“The traditional parties have been smashed,” said Jerome Jaffre, a political scientist at Sciences Po university in Paris.
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