France's far-right presidential hopeful Eric Zemmour says his political soulmate is Boris Johnson

• France's far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour said he is closest to Boris Johnson.
• Zemmour said he was 'culturally, intellectually' more similar to prime minister than other leaders.

France's far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour says he has more in common with Boris Johnson than any other world leader.

Zemmour has become prominent in France for his anti-Islam and anti-immigration views and has been prosecuted for hate speech three times, most recently in January for describing migrant children as "thieves," "rapists," and "murderers."

During an interview with radio station France Inter, Zemmour was asked which leader he had most in common with.

"You have not mentioned Boris Johnson and I am astonished because he is without doubt the leader I feel I am closest to, culturally, intellectually," he said.

Like Johnson, Zemmour is a former journalist who has written popular history books.

Both have campaigned on populist agendas which promised to control immigration: Johnson promised an Australian points-based style system to control immigration when he was elected in 2019. Zemmour, meanwhile, has promised to introduce a "zero-immigration" policy if he wins the presidency.

Zemmour has praised Brexit and suggested that France lacked the courage to follow the UK in leaving the EU.

Both politicians have drawn comparisons to former US President Donald Trump, with President Joe Biden memorably having branded Johnson a "physical and emotional clone" of his predecessor in the White House. Johnson also drew extensive criticism last week for invoking what experts said was a far-right Trumpian slur against Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Johnson accused Starmer in the House of Commons of failing to prosecute the late pedophile Jimmy Saville when he was Director of Public Prosecutions — a widely discredited conspiracy theory for which he has refused to apologise.

This is not the first time he has made the comparison. Zemmour insisted in November he was more like Johnson than Trump, telling Bloomberg News: "I'm not upset that I'm compared to Donald Trump but always makes me laugh because you should always compare me to Boris Johnson."