Lula holds big lead in Brazil as voters worry about inflation, COVID-19

Former Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at Forca Sindical Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 8, 2021. REUTERS/Carla Carniel

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva retains a clear lead for this year's presidential election in Brazil, where inflation and the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic most worry voters, a poll published on Wednesday showed.

Lula would get 45% of the votes against 23% for the country's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro if the election were held today, according to the Banco Genial/Quaest Pesquisas survey.