Marine Le Pen, whose bid for the the French presidency was already in difficulty after a wave of defections, suffered a further blow after her far-right party accused her campaign spokesman of political espionage and suspended him.
In a memo sent to senior party officials, the Rassemblement National alleged Nicolas Bay, an erstwhile Le Pen loyalist and former secretary general of the party, had handed "strategic and confidential" campaign details to far-right rival Eric Zemmour.
