Sarkozy's poll win tempered by left's revival

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's allies won a large majority in parliamentary elections yesterday but fell short of the predicted landslide after talk of a sales tax hike appeared to cost them votes.

When voting ended, leading polling institutes projected Mr Sarkozy's centre-right allies would win 341-350 seats in the National Assembly, well below some pre-vote estimates that they could win up to 470 deputies.

The pollsters also projected that the Socialists would win between 202-210 seats in the 577-seat legislature.

France's de-facto Deputy Prime Minister, Alain Juppe, was beaten in yesterday's parliamentary election, according to a television poll prediction.

The poll said Mr Juppe, a former Prime Minister, lost to a little-known Socialist candidate in his Bordeaux constituency.

If confirmed, the result would almost certainly force Mr Juppe to resign his powerful energy and environmental portfolio - a post he was handed only one month ago and that had made him the number two in Prime Minister Francois Fillon's government.

Mr Fillon said any minister who failed to win election in the legislative ballot would have to quit his Cabinet.

The surprise results were a relative setback for the President, who had urged voters to give him a decisive victory to underpin his programme of sweeping tax and labour reforms.

Mr Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and allies had 359 seats in the outgoing legislature.

The Socialists and affiliates, who had 149 deputies in the outgoing parliament, appeared to have been buoyed by a row over government plans to hike a value-added tax.

"The blue wave that had been announced... has not taken place," said Socialist leader Francois Hollande, who has been under fire since Mr Sarkozy's presidential victory in May.

"In the new assembly, there will be diversity and pluralism. That's good for the country," Mr Hollande said.

Yesterday's second round vote confirmed the implosion of the independent centre, which was projected to win just two seats. The Communists were reduced to around a dozen seats from 21, although the Greens were seen increasing their number to four.

The far-right National Front was not expected to win a seat. Mr Sarkozy, who played a low profile role in the campaign, is expected to complete his governing team quickly after the vote, the fourth election in France in two months. Voter fatigue explained a high abstention rate of around 40 per cent.

Mr Sarkozy could this week appoint about half a dozen junior ministers, including ethnic minority figures, non-UMP politicians and maintain ministerial parity between the sexes.

Mr Sarkozy's first weeks in office have been marked by a burst of activity and the announcement of a series of domestic reforms and high-profile foreign appearances such as his attendance at the G8 summit in Germany.

Prime Minister Fillon has already detailed a raft of measures to be laid before a special session of the new Parliament due to start on June 26.