FRANCE
François Fillon profile
November 21, 2016 - Former prime minister, François Fillon, has emerged as the surprise front-runner in the first round of presidential primary voting among center-right candidates in France, advancing to the second round against another former prime minister, Alain Juppé. With the governing Socialists largely discredited, the winner of the second-round contest in the Republicans’ party primary will likely face the candidate of France’s far-right National Front, Marine Le Pen, in the presidential election next year.