France’s next presidential election will be held on 18 April and 2 May next year, an executive branch source confirmed on Tuesday.
The information, which validates reports in the local media, is expected to be formally announced during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party considers the 2027 election as its greatest prospect for ascending to power.
Various opinion polls have repeatedly suggested that the far-right could lead the first round of voting, although the party’s official candidate has not yet been finalised.
Marine Le Pen is seeking to contest the presidency for a fourth time.
Having finished third in the 2012 election, she subsequently faced President Emmanuel Macron in the second-round runoffs during the last two elections.
Macron is currently serving his second and final term in office.
Le Pen, a prominent critic of the European Union, is currently awaiting a court decision on 7 July.
Her candidacy for the National Rally depends on whether an appeals court refrains from banning her from public office following allegations of “fake jobs” at the European Parliament.
According to the French constitution, the presidential election must take place between 20 and 35 days before the expiration of the incumbent president’s five-year term.
