French election: Alain Juppe backs Francois Fillon to heal party divisions
The former French PM has backed Francois Fillon despite accusing him of wasting the Republican party's lead earlier this week.
Friday 10 March 2017 12:39, UK
Former French prime minister Alain Juppe has backed Francois Fillon in an attempt to heal party divisons - just days after criticising the conservative candidate.
Mr Juppe also became one of the Republican presidential candidate's sponsors in a move which could help scandal-hit Mr Fillon bounce back in opinion polls.
The sponsorship is symbolic as , who defeated Mr Juppe in the the centre-right primaries in November, already has more than 1,000 sponsors - double what is required.
::
But it could boost his campaign, as supporters of Mr Juppe are currently being courted by independent centrist and opinion poll leader Emmanuel Macron.
However, victory for Mr Fillon would also depend on attracting voters away from far-right, anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Juppe said: "Even if just a passenger, I'm not leaving the ship during the storm."
Opinion polls show Mr Fillon coming third in the first round of voting on April 23, with Mr Macron and Front National leader Mrs Le Pen going on to contest the second round on May 7.
Until this week, many conservatives had considered Mr Juppe a 'plan B' candidate after Mr Fillon became embroiled in .
But on Monday, Mr Juppe , criticising Mr Fillon for wasting Les Republicains' strong lead and for attacking the judiciary investigating the case.
Mr Fillon is due to report on 15 March to an investigating magistrate who plans to put him under formal investigation.
He is facing claims he paid his wife and children hundreds of thousands of euros in taxpayers' money for work they did not do.