PARIS: Socialist party candidate Francois Hollande has extended his lead over incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the race to become France's next president, a poll released on Sunday said.
In the first round of a two-stage election to be held six months from now, Hollande would win 39 percent of votes, up eight percentage points from three weeks ago, while Sarkozy would have 24 percent, up three points, the LH2 poll for Yahoo said.
Sixty percent of those polled would back Hollande in a head-to-head contest with Sarkozy in the second round, according to the survey. This was unchanged since May apart from a dip in September.
Hollande has benefited from the interest generated by the competition to choose a presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, which he won last Sunday, as well as his popularity among younger voters aged 18-34, LH2 said.
"In the wake of Francois Hollande's success, the Left is becoming the leading political force," LH2 said.
Despite lagging his Socialist rival, Sarkozy has seen his share of first-round votes increase in the last three weeks, helped by the success of the military operation in Libya to help overthrow Muammar Gaddafi and the birth of his fourth child, LH2 said.
Sarkozy also has benefited from the decision by centrist rival and former Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo to abandon his bid to become president, the polling company said.
"In the last quarter of 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy will have to confirm or even prove his ability to govern France and maintain the country's economic credibility on an international level," LH2 said.
Sarkozy remains the natural candidate for the centre-right UMP party in the presidential elections, although he is not expected to announce he is standing for re-election until January or February.
National Front President Marine Le Pen, who has been less prominent in the media recently, has seen her chances of reaching the second round of the election fade, LH2 said.
The portion of voters intending to support her has slipped to 14 percent from 15 percent three weeks ago, leaving her in third place in the first round, according to the survey.
Asked who Hollande should appoint as prime minister if he became president, 28 percent of those polls said Martine Aubry, the Socialist party leader, with 18 percent favouring anti-globalisation advocate Arnaud Montebourg.
Opinion poll specialist LH2 said it interviewed 953 people aged 18 and over by telephone on Friday and Saturday.
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