France's Philippe slips behind Mélenchon in new presidential poll

Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is losing ground in the presidential race, according to polling carried out by Cluster 17 exclusively for Politico. The survey puts Philippe on 16 percent, trailing far-left challenger Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who leads him on 18.5 percent.

The survey was conducted between October 19 and October 22. In Cluster 17's poll last month, Philippe and Mélenchon had been tied at 19 percent apiece; Philippe has lost three points in the space of a month.

Both men remain significantly behind far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen, who held her first presidential campaign rally on Sunday. Le Pen's candidacy does not appear to have been significantly affected by allegations that her protégé Jordan Bardella made antisemitic comments in private as a teenager.

Bardella was reelected as president of the National Rally at the far-right party's conference this past weekend, and he has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Philippe's main ideological rival, fellow former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, fares little better. When Attal was tested instead of Philippe as the main centrist candidate, he netted just 12 percent.

Raphaël Glucksmann, fresh off a dominant victory in a center-left primary, is holding steady in fourth place with 13 percent. Cluster 17 found Glucksmann would win 29 percent of those who supported President Emmanuel Macron in 2022, while 49 percent of those voters back Philippe. Macron cannot run for a third consecutive term.

Conservative leader Bruno Retailleau is still struggling to break into double digits. Though he held steady in the poll, he faces a new concern in the rising popularity of David Lisnard, the right-wing mayor of Cannes.

In a scenario in which Lisnard is added to the race, he eclipses Retailleau and also chips away at support for Le Pen.

A poll unveiled last week found little change in the dynamics of the race following the rioting that emerged on the sidelines of massive protests across France on October 17. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets again on Saturday.