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Nicolas Sarkozy’s Conservative UMP Party and its allies appear to have come first in the final round of French local elections.
The UMP appeared set to secure more than 60 local councils, exit polls suggested, up from 41.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front also appeared to have made gains, while the ruling Socialists and their allies may lose about 30 departments.
These elections are seen as a test case ahead of 2017’s presidential election.
Paris and Lyon, France’s two biggest cities, were excluded from Sunday’s election.
The National Front appeared to have won a significant number of seats in Sunday’s second round of elections, but it was not clear if it had gained control of any councils, the exit polls said.
Photo Reuters
Marine Le Pen hailed a “historic” day for the FN, saying: “I thank all our voters for this magnificent success.”
PM Manuel Valls admitted that the Socialist Party had lost ground, and said that the rise in the National Front’s popularity showed a lasting change in France’s political landscape.
He vowed to redouble efforts to boost the economy.
Nicolas Sarkozy said voters had rejected the policies of his successor as president, Francois Hollande.
“Never has our political family won so many councils,” he told supporters.
Francois Hollande has suffered from slumping personal ratings, boosted only briefly by his response to January’s terror attacks in Paris.
French voters have been electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, charged with issues like schools and welfare.
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Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party and its allies have taken first place in the first round of French local elections, partial results show.
Projections suggest that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front (FN) – despite strong gains – came second with about 25% of the vote, behind the conservatives on about 30%.
President Francois Hollande’s governing Socialists came third with 21%.
Voters are electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, charged with issues like schools and welfare.
The results mean the second round on March 29 will see a run-off between the UMP and the FN in many constituencies.
Photo Reuters
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy said outcome of the elections demonstrated “the French people’s profound desire for change”.
“The conditions for a massive swing back to the right and the centre are in place,” he added.
Nicolas Sarkozy also ruled out any “local or national” deals with the FN in constituencies where one of the two parties was involved in run-offs with the Socialists.
In the past, voters for rival parties have rallied against the far right group in the second round of voting.
The poor results for the Socialists follows on from their defeats in municipal and EU elections last year.
Some polls ahead of the vote had indicated that Marine Le Pen’s FN could come top in the first round.
Marine Le Pen had been hoping the elections would build momentum ahead of her expected bid for the presidency in 2017.
Socialist PM Manuel Valls welcomed the news that the FN had scored less that some had predicted, saying the results showed it was not the strongest force in French politics.
However, Marine Le Pen called for Manuel Valls to resign, celebrating what she said was a “massive vote” for her party, exceeding its performance in the European Parliament elections.
For the first time, voters in these elections are not choosing single candidates – but pairs of candidates – one man and one woman – in order to enforce strict gender equality in local politics.
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French people are voting in local elections in which Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front party (FN) is expected to score big gains.
Voters are electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, charged with issues like schools and welfare.
Sunday’s first round will be followed a second in a week’s time.
Polls suggest that the Socialists of President Francois Hollande will suffer another setback, after defeats in municipal and EU elections last year.
The Socialists and the centre-right UMP have been joined by the FN, not as a freakish upstart but a serious contender for power.
The FN has benefited from economic stagnation, high unemployment, and general hostility to mainstream parties.
The governing Socialists and their left-wing allies are expected to take the biggest hit, losing many of the 61 departments they hold.
The FN is also taking voters from the UMP, which has struggled to unify behind a single leader since the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012 presidential election.
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About 4,000 students have rallied in Paris against the far-right National Front (FN) party, following its success in the European elections.
Smaller marches took place in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and outside the European parliament in Strasbourg.
Marie Le Pen’s National Front came first in last week’s European parliament elections, winning 25% of the French vote and 24 seats.
About 4,000 students have rallied in Paris against the far-right National Front party, following its success in the European elections (photo AFP)
The party is opposed to mass immigration, free trade and the euro.
In Paris, students shouted anti-right wing slogans and waved banners reading “No to the National Front”.
However, correspondents say the turnout is small compared with previous protests against the FN.
Following her party’s victory, leader Marine Le Pen said voters had demanded “only one type of politics – a politics of the French, for the French and with the French”.
She added that her party would put pressure on French President Francois Hollande and fight “crazy measures like votes for immigrants”.
Marie Le Pen is credited with detoxifying the image of the FN, which was previously seen as the pariah of French politics.
France’s National Front has come first in the country’s elections to the European Parliament according to exit polls in what PM Manuel Valls has declared a “political earthquake”.
Eurosceptic parties also made big gains in other European countries – also coming first in Denmark.
The centre-right EPP looked set to be the biggest bloc in parliament.
Marie Le Pen’s National Front has come first in France’s elections to the European Parliament
Turnout in the election was 43.1%, according to provisional European Parliament figures – up on last time.
That would be the first time turnout had not fallen since the previous election – but would only be an improvement of 0.1%.
In France, the National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen said after seeing exit polls: “Clearly we are in the lead.”
A statement by her party accused the French government of “massive fraud” and “industrial scale” vote-rigging, saying PM Manuel Valls had tried to prevent the National Front winning “by the most odious means”.
It said in many polling stations voters were given incorrect papers or did not get ballots that included the National Front.
The election is the biggest exercise in multi-national democracy in the world.
The 751 seats are allocated in proportion to each country’s population.
The vote will affect the lives of the EU’s 500 million citizens, and the chamber has much more power than it used to.
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Francois Hollande’s socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections, according to early results.
The opposition UMP claims victory and the far right National Front (FN) celebrates further gains.
UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope hailed what he called a “blue wave” of support for his centre-right party.
Marine Le Pen’s FN was heading for victory in up to seven towns, early results indicated.
The Socialists have been hit by growing discontent over the economy.
Francois Hollande’s socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections
Turnout in Sunday’s second-round vote was low, which was bad news for President Francois Hollande’s Socialists as it was their supporters who were not voting
The National Front was on course for victory in the southern towns of Beziers and Frejus and in Villers-Cotterets north-east of Paris.
The centre-right UMP appears poised to capture a number of key cities, including Saint-Etienne, Reims and Roubaix.
A reshuffle – and quite likely a replacement for PM Jean-Marc Ayrault – could be announced as early as Monday.
In Paris, which has had a Socialist mayor since 2001, exit polls indicated Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo was set to defeat UMP candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
It was seen as a consolation for the governing party on a night of setbacks.
Voters were choosing councilors and mayors in more than 36,000 municipalities. FN candidates had won through to the second round in some 200 places.
The FN is widely expected to do well in the European Parliament elections in May – and opinion polls suggest the Eurosceptic party is on course to come top.
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French far-right National Front party has made significant gains in local elections, winning an outright majority in Henin-Beaumont on the first round.
The National Front is in first place in some other towns it is targeting, according to projections.
President Francois Hollande’s Socialists have lost ground overall and may lose control of some major towns.
The vote is seen as a key test for the Socialists, deeply unpopular after nearly two years in power.
The Socialists were also hit by the low turnout in the first round of the elections – exit polls suggest up to 35% of voters stayed at home.
The vote is to choose councilors and mayors in more than 36,000 villages, towns and cities.
Marine Le Pen’s National Front party has made significant gains in local elections, winning an outright majority in Henin-Beaumont on the first round
The anti-immigration National Front (FN) took 50.26% of the vote in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, which has historically voted for the left.
Elsewhere, in Avignon and Perpignan in the south, the party’s candidates for mayor had the biggest number of votes.
In some 200 places FN candidates have won through to the second round next weekend.
Marine Le Pen, National Front leader since 2011, hailed the results, saying her party had “arrived as a major independent force – a political force at both national and local level”.
In most cases, these candidates have little chance of gaining control of the town halls as they will be beaten in round two.
However, it is a big advance for the far right and an expression of the growing popular exasperation with the establishment parties of the right and the left.
Many people who voted for President Francois Hollande two years ago chose to abstain, which has meant losses for the Socialists and in many important towns they will struggle in the second round to hold off challenges from the main centre-right UMP opposition party.
Earlier, pollsters identified half a dozen towns that could see National Front rule as a result of the elections, giving it the chance to show it can be trusted with power after attempts to run four towns in the late 1990s revealed its lack of competence, Reuters news agency said.
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