Under pressure Fillon accuses Hollande of meddling in French election

Francois Fillon, French presidential candidate and former prime minister, has accused President Francois Hollande of unduly interfering in the country’s election.

The first round of voting is due to take place next month with centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron leading the way, followed by the National Front’s Marine Le Pen. Fillon has faltered in the polls off the back of allegations that family members were paid for jobs they did not do during his time as PM.

Now Fillon has alleged that Hollande directed an operation to influence the outcome of the investigation into his actions.

“I am calling into question the president of the republic,” Fillon said in an interview on the France 2 television channel.

"You have newspapers today which receive documents 48 hours after they were seized in searches, for example in my office in the National Assembly. Who gives them these documents? The government," he added.

Fillon had been leading the race to win this year’s election until the scandal regarding his family no-shows hit. His British wife Penelope Fillon is said to have received 700,000 euros over 15 years for working as his parliamentary assistant, but not carried out any of the position’s duties.

Hollande has firmly denied the accusations that he was involved with the investigation in any way, saying that he “condemns with the greatest firmness the false allegations of Fillon.”

Current polls have Macron slightly ahead of Le Pen as the vote on 23 April approaches, with the former on 26% and the latter on 25%.