Jessica Hinds, France economist at Capital Economics, says: “There is just quite a big disaffection, a difficulty for young people to see the outlook. I don’t think it’s surprising that policies to help with the cost of living have attracted young people.”
She says the €4bn estimated cost of the pledge to scrap income tax for those below 30 is “quite cheap – and you get a lot of votes for that”.
A poll found that cost of living was the topic of concern most cited by French voters. Some 54pc said it was a top worry while just 24pc said immigration and 3pc named Europe – Le Pen’s usual bread and butter.
Experts say she has softened her image and ditched the most contentious of her anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-EU policies. However, her platform still includes plenty of red meat for her base, such as pledges to massively reduce immigration, banning hijabs from public life and reforming the EU into a weaker “European alliance of nations”.
UBS economist Dean Turner says: “Le Pen has done a lot to reimagine her party over the last five years, focusing on issues that, economically, are closer to the hearts of French working-class voters.
“Crucially, pursuing an exit from the euro and the EU is no longer her aim, although she would likely argue for reform at the European level that would point to a looser, not closer, union.”
Le Pen has moved towards a more interventionist and protectionist economic policy that would ramp up spending. Yet economists warn it will make France a less attractive destination for investment and do little to repair its battered public finances.
Turner adds: “Le Pen has campaigned on policies that would favour tax cuts for low earners, no reforms to public sector jobs, and no pension reforms. Such policies would likely mean that France would run larger deficits for longer, adding to an already challenging debt situation.”
Estimates suggest Le Pen spending proposals are far more ambitious at 4.1pc of GDP compared to 1.8pc for Marcon with France’s debt pile already above 110pc of GDP.
