Protestants, the faith confession that most clearly supported Macron

The French will choose their next president in the second round election on Sunday, 7 May. After a televised debate between the two final candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will fight for the vote of all social groups during the last days of the campaign.

A survey by IFOP for Pèlerin Magazine analysed the support the candidates received in the first round, in which centrist Emmanuel Macron got 24% of the total vote, followed by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen (21%), conservative François Fillon (20%), leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon (19%) and socialist Benoit Hamon (6%).

Protestants, which include evangelical Christians, mainly supported Emmanuel Macron (30%) ahead of Fillon (20%), Le Pen (20%) and Mélenchon (16%).

According to the survey, the Protestant support for Macron was the highest of any faith group.

Roman Catholics preferred Fillon (28%), followed by Macron (22%) and Le Pen (22%) and Mélenchon (14%).

Muslims mainly supported Mélenchon (37%), Macron (24%), Hamon (17%) and Fillon (10%).

Those with no faith supported Mélenchon (28%), Macron (24%) and Le Pen (23%).

EVANGELICALS CALLED TO VOTE

The National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF) issued a “convictions” document ahead of the election, commenting from a Christian point of view on issues like freedom of worship and speech, Dignity of the human being, Education and the protection of the environment.

The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) also expressed its concern after the rise of “populism” and called Christians to pray “for the emergence of healthy political figures”.