By Catherine Bremer

(Reuters) – Strong support for far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of France’s presidential election has lifted Nicolas Sarkozy’s hopes of clinching a second term, but he will struggle to win over enough of her voters to keep him in power.

Surveys show fewer National Front voters will rally behind the conservative Sarkozy in a runoff vote than did in the 2007 election, and as he shifts further rightwards on immigration and Europe he risks alienating the centrist voters he also needs.

PARIS (Reuters) – Five years after his passionate promises to shake up France and put more money in workers’ pockets swept him to power, Nicolas Sarkozy is fighting for his political life.

The most unpopular French president to seek re-election, Sarkozy came second to Socialist Francois Hollande in Sunday’s first-round vote but the big surprise was a record 19 percent score for far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

PARIS, April 22 (Reuters) – Far-rightist Marine Le Pen threw
France’s presidential race wide open on Sunday by scoring nearly
20 percent in the first round – votes that may determine the
runoff between Socialist favourite Francois Hollande and
conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Hollande led Sarkozy by about 29 to 26 percent in reliable
computer projections broadcast after polling stations closed,
and the two will meet in a head-to-head decider on May 6.

PARIS (Reuters) – France voted on Sunday in round one of a presidential ballot, with a feeble economy that could make Nicolas Sarkozy the country’s first president to lose a fight for re-election in more than 30 years.

In a contest driven as much by a dislike of Sarkozy’s showy style and his failure to bring down unemployment as by policy differences, Sarkozy and his Socialist rival Francois Hollande are pegged to beat eight other candidates to go through to a May 6 runoff, where polls give Hollande a double-digit lead.

PARIS (Reuters) – France votes on Sunday in round one of a presidential vote, with a feeble economy that could make Nicolas Sarkozy the country’s first president to lose a fight for re-election in more than 30 years.

In a contest driven as much by a dislike of Sarkozy’s showy style and his failure to bring down unemployment as by policy differences, Sarkozy and his Socialist rival Francois Hollande are pegged to beat eight other candidates to go through to a May 6 runoff, where polls give Hollande a double-digit lead.

PARIS (Reuters) – Voters look set to turn their backs on conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday’s first round of an election that could give France its first left-wing president in 17 years just as fears resurface over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

A sickly economy and a deep dislike of Sarkozy’s flashy style have dominated the campaign, but the outside world’s doubts about France’s commitment to balance its public finances are also at stake as feeble growth threatens deficit-cutting targets in Europe’s No. 2 economy.

PARIS (Reuters) – Voters look set to turn their backs on conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday’s first round of an election that could give France its first left-wing president in 17 years just as fears resurface over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

A sickly economy and a deep dislike of Sarkozy’s flashy style have dominated the campaign, but the outside world’s doubts about France’s commitment to balance its public finances are also at stake as feeble growth threatens deficit-cutting targets in Europe’s No. 2 economy.

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Nicolas Sarkozy stepped up his demand on Tuesday to give the European Central Bank a bigger role in driving growth, despite a German rebuff, in a quest to convince voters five days from an election that he is the best defender of the economy.

Sarkozy raised hackles in Berlin by declaring at a weekend campaign rally that he wanted a debate on having the ECB direct its exchange rate policy to propel growth, breaching a November agreement not to publicly discuss the bank’s role.

PARIS (Reuters) – In five years, Nicolas Sarkozy has gone from a man who won over a nation with raw and punchy speeches that promised to put money in workers’ pockets to the most unpopular president to seek re-election in France.

The conservative’s fiery 2007 campaign and determination to reach the top despite being the son of a Hungarian immigrant without the elite upbringing of his political peers drew young voters, factory workers and centrists to rally behind him.

PARIS (Reuters) – In five years, Nicolas Sarkozy has gone from a man who won over a nation with raw and punchy speeches that promised to put money in workers’ pockets to the most unpopular president to seek re-election in France.

The conservative’s fiery 2007 campaign and determination to reach the top despite being the son of a Hungarian immigrant without the elite upbringing of his political peers drew young voters, factory workers and centrists to rally behind him.