<P> François Hollande PS </P> <P> Emmanuel Macron EM </P> <P> The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017 . As no candidate won a majority in the first round on 23 April, a run - off was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! and Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN), which Macron won by a decisive margin on 7 May . The presidential election was followed by legislative elections to elect members of the National Assembly on 11 and 18 June . Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he would not seek reelection in light of low approval ratings, making him the first incumbent president of the Fifth Republic not to seek re-election . </P> <P> François Fillon of the Republicans (LR), after winning the party's first open primary, and Marine Le Pen of the National Front led first - round opinion polls in November 2016 and mid-January 2017 . Polls tightened considerably by late January, and after the publication of revelations that Fillon employed family members in possibly fictitious jobs in a series of politico - financial affairs that came to be colloquially known as "Penelopegate", Macron overtook Fillon to place consistently second in first - round polling . At the same time, Benoît Hamon won the Socialist primary, entering fourth place in the polls . After strong debate performances, Jean - Luc Mélenchon of la France Insoumise rose significantly in polls in late March, overtaking Hamon to place just below Fillon . </P>

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