Francois Fillon, former French prime minister, member of The Republicans political party and 2017 presidential candidate of the French centre-right, is seen prior to a prime-time news broadcast in the studios of TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, France, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Pierre Constant/Pool

PARIS (Reuters) - Some 61 percent of voters have a negative opinion of French presidential election candidate Francois Fillon, according to an opinion poll carried out after the publication of allegations that he paid his wife for a fake job.

The Odoxa poll shows 38 percent have a good opinion of Fillon. That is a drop of 16 percentage points since a poll carried out early November by another polling agency, Ifop-Fiducial, Odoxa said in a note.

It’s a four points popularity drop since an Odoxa poll published on January 8, the note said.

Satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine reported on Wednesday that Penelope Fillon had been paid some 600,000 euros ($641,640.00)for many years of employment as a parliamentary assistant to Fillon, then to his replacement as a lawmaker and also for work at a cultural journal.

Fillon denies any wrongdoing and has called the allegations “abject.”

The poll was carried out online on Thursday among 1,012 people.