Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s leftwing candidate, is on course to become the country’s next president in the July 2 election, according to two opinion polls out this week.

Mr López Obrador, who is running for the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), has now inched into the lead with 37 per cent of the vote against 35 per cent for Felipe Calderón, the centre-right candidate for the ruling National Action Party (PAN).