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Nicolas Bay, general secretary of France’s Front National (FN) party, revealed Ms Le Pen had secured the signatures just days before the deadline. However, the endorsement signatures must still be validated by the constitutional council.

GETTY Marine Le Pen looks to become a presidential candidate after receiving 500 government sponsors

Mr Bay also said on Tuesday Ms Le Pen was the sixth candidate to have gathered 500 signatures from mayors or local officials dotted across France. In 2012, the year Socialist president François Hollande came into power, Ms Le Pen struggled to get the endorsements needed; and secured them within days of the target date.

Laurent Fabius, the head of the constitutional council, the highest constitutional court in the country, reiterated this week that the signatures had to come from “at least” 30 different departments or overseas territories, and that “no more than 10 per cent” of the sponsors could come from a single department or territory.

GETTY Nicolas Bay, general secretary of the FN party, announced the news just days before the deadline

What’s more, all 500 endorsement signatures must first be “approved and validated” by the constitutional council, he said. Ms Le Pen, who has long been considered the ‘underdog’ candidate, is gaining support and inching closer to victory.

GETTY Marine is expected to breeze through to the final round of voting in May

The anti-EU Elysée hopeful is set to breeze through to the second and final round of voting in May, an Ifop-Fiducial voting intentions poll for Paris Match, CNews and Sud Radio published on Wednesday shows. The FN chief is predicted to come first in the election’s first round in April with 26 per cent of the votes, while centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron would garner 24.5 per cent and centre-right candidate François Fillon 19.5 per cent, the poll revealed.

GETTY Emmanuel Macron is expected to come second in the first round of the elections in April