Wow, People Don’t Like Austerity
The BBC is reporting on the first round of the French election: Francois Hollande ‘wins first round’
French Socialist Francois Hollande has won most votes in the first round of the country’s presidential election, estimates show.
They suggest he got more than 28% of votes against about 26% for centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
The two men will face each other in a second round on 6 May.
…It is the first time a French president running for re-election has failed to win the first round since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
With 80.9% of voters turning out, this is a good indication that the reality of Sarkozy’s policies is not popular with a lot of French voters.
Polls have been indicating for some time that Hollande had a comfortable lead over Sarkozy in a two-person race, but the loss in the first round was not expected.
The first round is like a US primary, with the top two candidates going on to the second round.
