The lackluster state of the French economy is slipping down the list of hot topics for voters as the race for the presidency in 2017 starts to accelerate, according to one expert. Jonathan Fenby, director of European Political Research at TSL Research Group told CNBC on Friday that concerns about immigration and security have overtaken worries about the economy. "It is immigration and law and order now," Fenby told CNBC Europe's "Squawk Box" on Friday. "(In the past) it certainly was the economy and unemployment which has remained around 10 percent (that voters cared about) but now with the terrorist attacks over the last 18 months or so it's very much become security." Earlier this week, seven candidates were lined up to run in the French conservative presidential primaries coming up in November. The former President Nicolas Sarkozy and the former Prime Minister Alain Juppe are considered the frontrunners while Bruno Le Maire and Francois Fillon are among the other contenders.



The Eiffel tower is closed for security reasons and guarded by police following Fridays terrorist attack on November 15, 2015 in Paris, France. Xavier Laine | Getty Images

Six out of the seven candidates are from the main opposition Republican party with immigration, national identity and security becoming the key themes for the candidates. France has been rocked by several high-profile Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks in the last 18 months, from the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015 to the Paris massacre last November and, most recently, the Bastille Day attack in Nice. The conservative primaries will be held on November 20 with a possible run-off the week after, if no candidate gets at least 50 percent of the votes. France 24 noted this week that the stakes are high for the vote "with polls showing that the winner of the primary would be the clear favorite to win the election next May."

Leaning to the right