GETTY French election - Yanis Varoufakis has backed Emmanuel Macron

FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

The ex-finance minister said it was a “veritable mystery” why some left-wing politicians were yet to endorse Mr Macron. Far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who crashed out in the first round, is yet to back a candidate with Ms Le Pen attempting to appeal to his supporters to back her in the second round on May 7. Mr Varoufakis has thrown his support behind the Frenchman as it emerged former economy minister Mr Macron attempted to broker a last-minute deal to avoid harsh austerity measures on Greece.

I refuse to be part of a generation of progressive Europeans who could prevent Marine Le Pen from winning the French presidency, but did not do so Yanis Varoufakis

Writing for Le Monde, Mr Varoufakis said: “I refuse to be part of a generation of progressive Europeans who could prevent Marine Le Pen from winning the French presidency, but did not do so. “Is Marine Le Pen really a less unacceptable option than her father? “Is Emmanuel Macron worse, from the left’s point of view, than Jacques Chirac in 2002? If this isn’t the case, then why do certain leaders from the left today refuse to support Macron against Le Pen? For me, it’s a veritable mystery.”

A furious Mr Varoufakis added the Front National leader could not be allowed to “seize the Elysée palace by surprise because of a tactically flawed indifference on our part”. Opinion polls show Mr Macron is set to win about 60 per cent of votes in Sunday's run-off against Ms Le Pen, the pair having knocked out Mr Melenchon and eight other candidates in the April 23 first round. But to do that, he needs to win some of the 20 per cent of first round votes that Mr Melenchon secured under the banner of his political movement 'France Unbowed'.

AFP GETTY Far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon is yet to formally endorse a candidate

REUTERS Marine Le Pen is gaining support in the polls

More than 240,000 of France Unbowed's 430,000 members took part in the survey, announced last week, in which a vote for Le Pen was not among the options. The results of the survey showed that 36.1 per cent would aim for a blank vote, compared to 34.8 per cent for Mr Macron and 29.1 per cent aiming to abstain.

Countdown to the French election! Sat, May 6, 2017 Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen continue to campaign as they head towards the election run-off on May 7th Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 10 Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) party candidate for 2017 presidential election, is protected by bodyguards as eggs are thrown by demonstrators during her arrival in Dol-de-Bretagne