Both candidates who made it through the first round of the French presidential election have quickly made appeals to National Front voters, whose support will be crucial in deciding the country’s next leader.

Pierre Moscovici, campaign director for François Hollande, who won Sunday’s first round with 28.2 per cent, said the socialist candidate would continue to be “very open” to legal immigration, but “we must fight with absolute firmness, without concession, against illegal immigration”.