Macron Increases Chances of Winning in 1st Round of French Election After Debate

French independent presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron has increased his chances of leading in the first round of the presidential elections following a televised debate, an Elabe poll showed Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the poll for BFMTV broadcaster and L'Express newspaper, Macron would lead in the first round by 26 percent against 24.5 percent for far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.

Macron has improved his positions by 0.5 percent as compared to the results of an Elabe poll conducted before the debate on March 17-19, while Le Pen has lost 0.5 percent of the votes.

The Republicans' candidate Francois Fillon has also lost 0.5 percent, gaining 17 percent of the votes after the debate, the poll showed.

Macron would beat Le Pen by 64 percent to her 36 percent in the second round of the elections, according to the poll.

On Monday night, five presidential hopefuls, including Macron, Fillon, Le Pen, the Socialist leader Benoit Hamon and the leader of the left-wing political movement La France Insoumise (Unsubmissive France), Jean-Luc Melenchon, took part in the first of three televised debates leading up to the first round of the presidential election on April 23.

The second round of the election is set for May 7.