Hollande and Sarkozy almost neck-and-neck

Le Figaro reports on the latest poll in the presidential election race with the headline: “Sarkozy is catching up on Hollande”.

Le Figaro’s editorial asks if Hollande is simply relying on an anti-Sarkozy vote because – according to the right-wing daily – the Socialist’s message is not getting across.

Libération headlines that 30% of the French, almost one in three, are not ruling out voting for Marine Le Pen. The editorial focuses on another statistic from its survey: 68% say Marine Le Pen is more credible than her father Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The free paper 20 Minutes is leading with a photo of the centrist Francois Bayrou. The headline there: “centre of attraction”. He is gaining ground.

Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui-en-France has a piece about “Sarkozy courting Bayrou”. The president will need centrist support if he gets through to a second round vote on May 6th.

Business daily La Tribune, in an editorial, describes Nicolas Sarkozy as an “Artificier”, a man putting on a fireworks display with a series of controversial measures.

And Les Echos, in its editorial, looks at “The utopia of a Tobin Tax” on financial transactions.