SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betfair Politics reports that against all expectations (even perhaps his own), scandal hit Francois Fillon is back in the race for France 2017, as its political betting market hits £11.5 million in matched wagers.
Updating its French 2017 General Election market, Betfair reports that Fillon is trading as second favourite currently priced 5.2, just ahead of Front National’s Marie Le Pen who has seen her presidency odds drift to 5.5.
Recent national polls suggest that conservative ‘Les Républicains’ voters are prepared to back Fillon as France heads for its first round of poles this Sunday 23 April.
France’s two-ballot system, in which the two most popular opening candidates are selected for a ‘Presidential run-off’ hosted on 7 May is currently favouring ‘En Marche’ leader Emmanuel Macron (1.72) to win the Presidency.
However, in what has become a peculiar betting market Marie Le Pen remains the firm favourite to win the first round of electoral voting priced by Betfair at 1.90.
Updating the media Betfair Spokesperson, Naomi Totten said: “There is plenty of action on the political markets, with £1.5m matched on the Next French President market alone this week. The big moves have been from Jean-Luc Melenchon who is now trading at 11/1 but was backed as short as 7/1 on the weekend.
“Fillon has also come back into the running and is now the second favourite ahead of Le Pen. The market is likely to see a boost in activity on Thursday, with each of the main candidates taking part in a live television interview in the absence of the cancelled live debate.”
The intriguing France 2017 Presidential race has been called ‘impossible to read’ by political commentators due to the number of candidates participating and fluctuating polls. Further twists are expected before this Sunday’s first round of voting…
