France&#39;s right-wing presidential candidate Francois Fillon apologised Monday over the fake job affair involving his wife, a controversy&nbsp;that has damaged his reputation and has crashed his ratings to an all-time low.

Fillon, who was the frontrunner for the French May 7 runoffs, sought to draw a line under the scandal, saying: &quot;It was an error, I profoundly regret it and I apologise to the French people.&quot;

Fillon found himself in the storm of a controversy when it emerged that his British-born wife Penelope was paid over 800,000 euros ($860,000) for being his parliamentary aide.

The conservative candidate had also&nbsp;used funds available to lawmakers to hire two of his children, paying them 84,000 euros ($91,000) pre-tax between 2005 and 2007.

The former prime minister, 62, said he had hired family members -- as allowed in France -- out of &quot;trust&quot; but recognised that such practises &quot;create distrust nowadays&quot;.

Although Fillon says his wife was paid to manage his local meetings when he was a lawmaker, Penelope in an interview in 2007 said&nbsp;she had &quot;never been actually his assistant or anything like that.&quot;

But the 62-year-old former prime minister rejected calls of his ouster, saying he wanted to turn a fresh page in his presidential bid.&nbsp;

&quot;From tonight, I announce here that it&#39;s a new campaign that&#39;s starting.&quot;

&quot;I am a candidate for the presidency to win it,&quot; he added.

France goes to the polls in April and May for a two-round presidential election.&nbsp;

Fillon, a devout Catholic who won the nomination of the Republicans party in November on a pledge to slash public spending, had been the frontrunner until two weeks ago.

Polls now show him possibly crashing out of the first round in April, likely leaving far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and rising star Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, to battle it out in May&#39;s runoff vote.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The conservative candidate has been accused of paying his wife over 800,000 euros for being his parliamentary aide

France's right-wing presidential candidate Francois Fillon apologised Monday over the fake job affair involving his wife, a controversy that has damaged his reputation and has crashed his ratings to an all-time low. Fillon, who was the frontrunner for the French May 7 runoffs, sought to draw a line under the scandal, saying: "It was an error, I profoundly regret it and I apologise to the French people." Fillon found himself in the storm of a controversy when it emerged that his British-born wife Penelope was paid over 800,000 euros ($860,000) for being his parliamentary aide. The conservative candidate had also used funds available to lawmakers to hire two of his children, paying them 84,000 euros ($91,000) pre-tax between 2005 and 2007. The former prime minister, 62, said he had hired family members -- as allowed in France -- out of "trust" but recognised that such practises "create distrust nowadays". Although Fillon says his wife was paid to manage his local meetings when he was a lawmaker, Penelope in an interview in 2007 said she had "never been actually his assistant or anything like that." But the 62-year-old former prime minister rejected calls of his ouster, saying he wanted to turn a fresh page in his presidential bid. "From tonight, I announce here that it's a new campaign that's starting." "I am a candidate for the presidency to win it," he added. France goes to the polls in April and May for a two-round presidential election. Fillon, a devout Catholic who won the nomination of the Republicans party in November on a pledge to slash public spending, had been the frontrunner until two weeks ago. Polls now show him possibly crashing out of the first round in April, likely leaving far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and rising star Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, to battle it out in May's runoff vote. (WION with inputs from AFP)

France's presidential candidate Fillon sorry about fake job affair

fillon-penelope

Fillon Penelope, News on Fillon Penelope, stories on Fillon Penelope, articles on Fillon Penelope, Fillon Penelope stories at Wion, Fillon Penelope news, Fillon Penelope latest news

fillon penelope

France's presidential candidate Fillon sorry about fake job affair