PARIS (Reuters) - France's veteran far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is the second most-liked politician in the country, according to a poll on Thursday which came 10 days ahead of the first round of voting.
According to the Elabe poll for Les Echos newspaper and Radio Classique, 35{5ad0cd663e4180c32b8049fbde12201ec3855e324a84c95f0595f875746ae8b3} of those polled said they had a "good image" of Le Pen. In 2017, when she lost to Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election's runoff, the figure stood at 32{5ad0cd663e4180c32b8049fbde12201ec3855e324a84c95f0595f875746ae8b3}.
Le Pen has overtaken former President Nicolas Sarkozy in the poll, who came in third with 33{5ad0cd663e4180c32b8049fbde12201ec3855e324a84c95f0595f875746ae8b3} of positive opinions. She still lags, however, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who scored 44{5ad0cd663e4180c32b8049fbde12201ec3855e324a84c95f0595f875746ae8b3}.
The Elabe poll did not test the popularity of President Emmanuel Macron nor that of his Prime Minister Jean Castex.
In 2017, 46{5ad0cd663e4180c32b8049fbde12201ec3855e324a84c95f0595f875746ae8b3} of those polled by Elabe had a "very poor image" of Le Pen, who is gearing up for her third presidential bid, against 34{5ad0cd663e4180c32b8049fbde12201ec3855e324a84c95f0595f875746ae8b3} now.
Le Pen has softened her image since 2017, ditching unpopular plans to drop the euro, tweeting about her passion for cats, and on one occasion taking selfies with a veiled Muslim girl.
Although polls showed Macron received a boost in voting intentions after Russia waged war on Ukraine, he is now falling back as Le Pen gains ground.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon ; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
