Anti-Euro Le Pen’s Record Vote Set to Weigh on French Election

The Times has the headline "Sarkozy faces defeat" and says Francoise Hollande is now within reach of the Elysee Palace.


It points out that almost half of those who voted did not cast their ballots for either front-runner, making the second round an enticing prospect.


While far-right candidate Marine Le Pen did not go through to the second round of France's elections, many papers look at the record showing for her party.


The Daily Telegraph believes the same combination of economic malaise and popular disillusionment that fuelled George Galloway's by-election victory in Bradford West last month is at work.


Meanwhile, the Daily Mail has a photograph of President Sarkozy's wife - Carla Bruni - on its front page.


It suggests that, despite losing the first round, the president could remain in power by picking up votes from Ms Le Pen's supporters.


A lawyer by training, Le Pen, 43, led a campaign against both Hollande and Sarkozy, pledging to bring back the French franc, tighten borders against immigration and pull away from European treaties. While she failed to shock the establishment by making it into the second round like her father did in 2002, she still got about 80 percent more votes than he did in 2007. Her views are likely to color the election debate.

Already yesterday Sarkozy touched on immigration and crime as issues he is likely to focus on in his campaign, referring to a “crisis of immigration” and calling for greater border controls. For his part, Hollande blamed Sarkozy’s economic and social policies for the rise of the National Front.
Hollande won 28.5 percent of the vote against 27.1 percent for Sarkozy, the interior ministry said in Paris after 96 percent of the votes were counted. Le Pen said she will outline in Paris on May 1 her position for second-round voting.