French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is closing the gap on her rivals in a poll that suggests momentum is building behind her campaign.
Ms Le Pen has consistently polled ahead for the first round, but has fallen far behind her rivals in the second-round runoff.
However, an Opinionway poll published Monday shows her catching up with both potential rivals in the second round, increasingly speculation she could pull off an upset in May and take the Élysée Palace.
The poll gives her a seven-point lead in the first round with 27 per cent, up one since Friday, while both establishment conservative François Fillon and independent socialist Emmanuel Macron are tied on 20 per cent.
In a run-off between Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron, the Front National leader now has 42 per cent compared to 58 per cent for Mr Macron. The represents a substantial narrowing from earlier in the month, when Mr Macron was on 66 per cent and Ms Le Pen 34 per cent.
Meanwhile, if the run-off is between Ms Len Pen and the embattled Mr Fillon, the Front National leader would take 44 per cent, a six-point rise since the start of the month, while Mr Fillon drops from 62 per cent to 56 per cent.
Breitbart London reported last week how an investment firm’s artificial intelligence programme has predicted a shock win for Ms Len in the second round of the election.
Arun Kant, chief executive and chief investment officer of Leonie Hill Capital, said: “If she wins the first round, this dynamic will change.” He said the momentum built during the first-round campaign could continue building and lead to an election victory equivalent to that of Donald Trump in the United States.
Supporters of conservative François Fillon would be unlikely to rally behind left-liberal Emmanuel Macron and could flock to Ms Le Pen, he added.