PARIS, April 19 — French President Emmanuel Macron’s lead in voting intention polls for the second-round runoff vote on April 24 widened further today, with three polls putting him at the highest level since before the first round.

An Ipsos poll saw Macron winning 56.5 per cent of the vote, up half a point from Friday and up 3.5 points from 53 on April 8, two days before the first-round vote in which Macron and far-right candidate Le Pen qualified for the second round.

An Opinionway poll put Macron at 56 per cent, up two points on Friday. In an Ifop poll, Macron’s share of voting intentions rose to 55 per cent, up half a point from yesterday and up three points compared to April 8.

Macron’s average score in the three polls rose to 55.83 per cent, up more than three points compared to a 52.7 per cent average of five polls of 52.70 on April 8.

Macron won the 2017 election with 66.1 per cent of the vote, also against Le Pen, but the race is now much tighter, with Macron suffering from criticism of his management of the Covid crisis and economic policies. — Reuters