The furore released by the claims that Francois Fillon paid his wife more than 500000 euros over 15 years from his parliamentary allowance, allegedly for work not actually done, may damage Fillon's presidential campaign. Some commentators have suggested that this could favour far right candidate Marine Le Pen, who is likely to qualify for the second round of voting against Fillon. Some members of Les Republicains are calling for Fillon to withdraw, a view shared by 70% of French voters according to a recent poll.
Le Pen has remained silent so far, since she too is being sued by the European Parliament for repayment of 300000 euros for a similar offence. It will be interesting to see if Fillon survives the police enquiry and stands what effect it will have on his chances. Probably the first round would be most affected, but is the FN a natural alternative to LR? If disaffected LR voters switch are they likely to choose Le Pen, or possibly the centrist Macron?
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