© 2017, Royal Irish Academy. All rights reserved. This article sets out to analyse the extent to which the presence of the Front National (FN) in the 2017 Presidential Election influenced the content of the other candidates’ manifestos. In spite of a process of ‘dédiabolisation’ whereby Marine Le Pen attempted to put forward a more respectable, and less racist, image of her party, the FN’s programme is still characterised by its strong anti-immigrant, nativist proposals. This article analyses the manner in which the general theme of immigration, which can be considered the main identity marker of the party, has been approached by the four other main candidates (Fillon, Macron, Mélenchon and Hamon). This is done through a study of the words used both in the manifestos and in public speeches in order to assess the ‘contagious’ effect that a populist organisation has on the mainstream parties.