French centrist Emmanuel Macron's lead in France's presidential election has narrowed following a televised debate though he is still on course to win, an Elabe poll for BFM TV showed on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
In one of the first polls on voter intentions since Tuesday's debate between all 11 candidates, Macron was seen winning 23.5 percent of the vote in the April 23 first round, his lowest score in a month and down from 25.5 percent the last time the poll was conducted on March 28-29.
Far right leader Marine Le Pen was also seen at 23.5 percent in the first round, down from 24 percent after the four-hour debate.
Macron, a popular former economy minister who has created his own party from scratch for the election, was forecast to win the May 7 runoff with 62 percent to 38 percent for Le Pen.
Conservative François Fillon, whose campaign had struggled as he fought nepotism allegations, regained some momentum though not enough to make it into the runoff. His score rose to 19 percent in the first round from 18 percent last week.