French Socialist lawmaker Francois Hollande was crowned favourite for next year's presidential election on Sunday, winning the left's primary to choose a challenger for Nicolas Sarkozy. The centre-right incumbent is expected to stand for re-election, but all recent opinion polls show him on course to lose to any left-wing challenger, and Hollande's victory will serve as a springboard for his campaign.
With almost two million of an estimated 2.8 million votes counted, Hollande had an unassailable 56 to 43 percent lead over Socialist leader Martine Aubry, who conceded defeat and vowed to support his campaign.
The vote was France's first US-style open primary - any elector who said he or she supports the ideals of the left could vote - and the huge turnout was hailed by Socialist leaders as a boost for the battle ahead.
"Tonight, we rally behind our candidate," Aubry declared, preparing to welcome her erstwhile opponent to Socialist Party headquarters to celebrate his victory and make a speech designed to re-unite and motivate activists.
Segolene Royal, who is both Hollande's former partner and the Socialist's defeated candidate in the 2007 election, said the win was both an "undeniable advance" and showed supporters' "very strong trust" in the victor.
Hollande had the backing of the four defeated first-round candidates and entered the run-off as favourite, but Aubry mounted a tough fight back, branding him a soft centrist without the steel to defeat Sarkozy.
Aubry, 61, the former labour minister who gave France its 35-hour working week, also attacked Hollande's lack of executive experience. But 57-year-old Hollande turned the attacks to his advantage, accusing Aubry of undermining party unity and suggesting his lack of a track record would make it easier for him to run as a candidate of change.
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