SARKOZY

PARIS (Reuters):

Conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy triumphed in France's presidential election yesterday, beating his Socialist rival Ségolène Royal by a comprehensive margin and extending the right's 12-year grip on power.

Within an hour of polls closing, a calm, restrained Sarkozy pledged to represent the entire nation and heal the divisions of a bitter election campaign, praising his defeated opponent.

He also reached out to both the United States, which has had frosty relations with France since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and to European Union partners, saying he would make the fight against global warming a priority.

"To all those French who did not vote for me, I want to say that beyond political battles, beyond differences of opinion, for me there is only one France," he told cheering supporters.

With almost two-thirds of ballots counted, Sarkozy had won 53.4 per cent of the vote against 46.6 per cent for Royal. Turnout was some 85 per cent - the highest since 1981.

Royal concession

Supporters of France's presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy wait for election results in Paris, yesterday. Hours later, Sarkozy was declared the winner. - Reuters

Royal, her traditional smile slightly faded, immediately conceded defeat. "Universal suffrage has spoken. I wish the next president of the Republic the best in accomplishinghis mission in the service of all the French people," she said.

Although opinion polls regularly suggested voters preferred Royal, who was seeking to become France's first woman head of state, they saw the uncompromising Sarkozy as a more competent leader with a more convincing economic programme.

Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, presented himself as the "candidate of work", promising to loosen the 35-hour workweek by offering tax breaks on overtime and to trim fat from the public service, cut taxes and wage war on unemployment.

Supporters poured into the huge Place de la Concorde in the centre of Paris for a rock concert and celebration party.

Sarkozy is expected to take power on May 16 or 17, becoming the first French president to be born after World War Two and replacing Jacques Chirac, 74, who is retiring after two terms.