Emmanuel Macron, a former merchant banker and a centrist candidate, is third in the polls for the presidential election but his ratings are improving

Panic swept through France’s traditional parties yesterday amid fears that the independent centrist rising up the opinion polls could eclipse them all in the battle to become president.

Emmanuel Macron, 39, a relative political novice who is threatening to reshape French politics, became the target of scorn and contempt as his rivals tried to halt his bandwagon.

Marine Le Pen, 48, the National Front leader, denounced Mr Macron as the “candidate of Brussels”; supporters of François Fillon, 62, the centre-right presidential contender, dismissed him as a “political fraud”; and Socialist leaders accused him of having impoverished French workers.

The attacks came amid increasing speculation that a once-unimaginable scenario may now fall into place: the collapse of President Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party and a pledge from