Two-thirds would vote for Hollande
Given a choice of Hollande or Sarkozy in next year’s presidentials, 62% would choose the socialist candidate
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SOCIALIST Party presidential candidate François Hollande would easily beat Nicolas Sarkozy if an election was held today, shows a poll.
A CSA survey for 20 Minutes, BFMTV and RMC shows that following his win in the Socialist primaries Hollande is more popular than ever, 62% saying they would vote for him in the case of a runoff with Sarkozy in the second rounds, compared to 38%.
As for the first round of voting, which will see the pair pitted against a range of other candidates, Hollande would get 35% and Sarkozy 25%. Next came the Front National’s Marine Le Pen, with 16% and François Bayrou of MoDem with 9%.
Hollande is up 7% compared to a similar poll last month, the highest rating a Socialist has so far gained in the polls for the 2012 elections (before he became embroiled in scandal Dominique Strauss-Kahn hit 33% in March).
A total of 59% of those asked thought the Socialist Party had come through the much-publicised primaries process “reinforced and brought together” and 60% of UMP voters said they would favour a similar process for their party the next time round (2017).
Politically, Hollande is seen as a “centre-left” candidate by 65% of those polled, with only 19% saying he is “really left wing”.
