A fillip for the far-right: Jean-Marie Le Pen rises a fairly spectacular 3 points, Sarkozy and Bayrou fall by a combined 3 points - that’s the result of the latest poll, conducted by IFOP earlier this week. Thus Le Pen becomes the third man in the race. Sarko is still in the lead with 31%, against Ségolène Royal, who has dropped half a point to 27.5%. Le Pen has now 13%, while Bayrou has dropped a point to 11%. Then there’s another big gap to the Trotskyist candidate, Olivier Besancenot, who has not moved with 3.5%, the other far left candidates, Arlette Laguiller and Marie-George Buffet have 3% each, then the two Greens unable to raise more than 2% (Dominique Voynet) and 1% (Corinne Lepage).

José Bové, who announced in this morning’s press that he is a candidate, makes his first appearance in an IFOP poll at 3%. Few of the above have their quota of 500 endorsements by elected representatives, so it is all still speculative: without them they cannot stand, although they still have several weeks to find them. “Smaller” candidates, who have no députés or senators in parliament to support them, have to rely on mayors, mostly the rural variety. In 2002 Le Pen got 90% of his signatures from places with less than 500 inhabitants. The problem is that the names of those who sign are published, and many mayors are afraid they will lose their own mandate once it is known they suported the Front National. Yet many French people, left and right, feel that if Le Pen does not get his 500 signatures, democracy will be failing. After all, last time he came in second, only 3 points behind Chirac: whether they like his policies or not they recognise democracy is best served by allowing all opinions to be aired and voted on.