what are the profiles of the voters who voted for Macron, Le Pen, Mélenchon and Zemmour in the first round?

Some decided at the last minute. Others had been convinced for several months. Young people, workers, executives, retirees, citizens concerned about purchasing power, the environment or immigration… The voters decided on Sunday April 10, bringing to the second round of the presidential election the outgoing president, Emmanuel Macron (27.84%) and the National Rally candidate, Marine Le Pen (23.15%), according to the final results.

>> Follow in our live the reactions the day after the first round

In a France that appears polarized and marked by high scores from the far right and the far left, an Ipsos-Sopra Steria survey for The ParisianFrance Télévisions and Radio France, conducted during the three days preceding the first round on a sample of 4,000 people, makes it possible to see more clearly in the profiles of the voters of the first four candidates, Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, Jean- Luc Mélenchon and Eric Zemmour.

Emmanuel Macron: the voices of retirees and the wealthiest

The seniors voted for the president-candidate. Just over 41% of those over 70 gave him their vote, against 13% for Marine Le Pen, in second place. Logically, Emmanuel Macron therefore arrives first among retirees (38%).

️ Voting in the first round of the presidential election based on age, an important factor for the three main candidates. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/g0Z4hjS3Kh

— mathieu gallard (@mathieugallard) April 11, 2022

The outgoing president also won many votes among executives (35%) and intermediate professions (28%), two socio-professional categories in which he came first. It is also in his country that we find the most voters with a level of education that reaches at least bac +3 and the most wealthy households: 35% of its voters reach more than 3 000 euros net monthly per month (against 15% of households below the 1,250 euros mark). It is also among Emmanuel Macron’s voters that we find the most people saying “very satisfied” of their life: 43%. Finally, 53% of them say they come from wealthy or privileged backgrounds.

Emmanuel Macron’s voters are also the most loyal: 74% of them had already voted for him in 2017. Moreover, 71% of these voters said they appreciated his “presidential stature”and the fact that he “will be able to face a major crisis” (65%): so many arguments that go in the direction of a bonus for leaving. Emmanuel Macron also won many votes on his right, while 39% of the voters of François Fillon (Les Républicains) in the first round of the previous presidential election turned this time to the candidate of En Marche!. Little hesitation also among the voters of the president-candidate, since 61% of them claim to have made their choice several months ago.

Marine Le Pen: the candidate of the lower educated working classes

Marine Le Pen’s voters are those who put the issue of purchasing power the most (69%) – ahead of immigration (55%) – to make their choice. And for good reason, they are those with the lowest level of income: 31% of voters for the National Rally candidate say they receive less than 1,250 euros net per month (a proportion that rises to 57% among those under 2 000 euros). They are also 37% to come from underprivileged backgrounds (37%) or popular (29%), when 30% of them claim to just make up their budget. Employees and workers have thus voted for Marine Le Pen: they make up 36% of her votes for each of these two socio-professional categories.

The National Rally candidate is also the one who received the most votes from the least educated electorate, with 35% of voters not having the baccalaureate. His voters are also those who say they are the least satisfied with their lives (46% saying “not satisfied at all.“)

Less affluent and less educated, Marine Le Pen voters are also younger: 26% of them are under 25 years old. However, it is in the 35-59 age bracket that Marine Le Pen comes out on top (58%) among all the candidates.

Marine Le Pen’s voters are also loyal supporters, since 78% of them had already voted for her in the first round of the 2017 presidential election.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon: a young and socially heterogeneous electorate

Young people voted Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Indeed, 31% of those under 24 voted for him (with 25-34 year olds, this rate rises to 65%). Conversely, seniors are those who have the least confidence in the candidate of La France insoumise (only 9% of those over 70).

From a socio-professional point of view, the categories “executives”, “intermediate professions” and “employees” each voted up to 25% for Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The workers are not far away, and represent 23% of the voters of the candidate of La France insoumise.

He is the one who received the most votes from the unemployed (34%) and he is just behind Marine Le Pen in the proportion of voters who have the lowest salaries: 28% of those who earn less than 1 250 euros net per month and 25% of those who receive 1,250 to 2,000 euros. The financial situation of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s voters is the most heterogeneous, since there are almost as many voters declaring they can put a lot of money aside as voters just managing to make ends meet.

Thus, like Marine Le Pen, a high proportion of her voters cited purchasing power among their main concerns (63%). Conversely, only 4% cited the issue of immigration, the second concern of Mélenchonist voters being social inequalities (51%), followed by the environment (44%). The rate of graduates is also much higher for the candidate of La France insoumise than for Marine Le Pen: 26% of voters with at least a bac +3 placed their trust in Jean-Luc Mélenchon, placing him in second position in this category, behind the voters of Emmanuel Macron.

If 66% of the voters of the candidate of La France insoumise had already voted for him in 2017, this time he benefited from the transfer of 42% of the votes which had gone to Benoît Hamon at the time. Similarly, 33% of voters who claim to be PS sympathizers (and 29% of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts sympathizers) gave their vote to the “rebellious” candidate. Finally, it is with Jean-Luc Mélenchon that we find the most voters who made their choice at the last minute: 23% of them say they made their decision in the last days before the vote.

Eric Zemmour: a determined vote against immigration

Eric Zemmour’s electorate is heterogeneous, varied both in terms of age and socio-professional category. He, who is running for the first time, can boast of an electorate that fully identifies (90%) with his very young party, Reconquest!. In addition, 14% of people who voted for Marine Le Pen in the first round of the 2017 presidential election and 12% of François Fillon voters turned to the far-right polemic this time.

What unites Eric Zemmour’s voters are their concerns: immigration is cited as the main issue for these voters (72%), far ahead of other themes, including delinquency (55%) and the power of purchase (41%). Other concerns are overrepresented among Eric Zemmour’s voters, in particular the defense of the Republic and secularism (22%, against 12% of the entire electorate) and terrorism (21%, against 9% of the entire electorate).

Thus, 81% of Eric Zemmour’s voters said they voted for him by membership, against 69% of those of Marine Le Pen (67% for Emmanuel Macron and 59% for Jean-Luc Mélenchon). They have also made their choice for several months for 64% of them (ie the highest proportion among the candidates). These voters are also the most numerous (63%) to believe that their candidate “really wants to change things.”