Reuters: World News: French left ahead in parliament vote: poll

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French left ahead in parliament vote: poll May 25th 2012, 17:32 PARIS | Fri May 25, 2012 1:32pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - The French left will comfortably beat the conservative UMP party in next month's parliamentary election, a poll showed on Friday, as rivalries triggered by Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat in the race for the presidency risk splitting the right-wing vote. President Francois Hollande's Socialists and other left-wing partner parties could together win 44 percent of the vote in the June 10 first round of the election, compared with just over a third for the UMP. The left aims to build on its momentum after voters swept Hollande to victory on May 6, bringing the Socialists back to government after a decade in opposition. The size of Hollande's majority in the new parliament will dictate how easy it will be for policymaking. Some investors are concerned that he could be forced to the left to placate hard left or ecologist lawmakers on whom his government might be dependent if the right manages to do better than expected. Pollsters Opinionway found that the Socialists would take 32 percent in the first round of the election for the National Assembly while allied Greens would get 4 percent and the Left Front 8 percent. Sarkozy's defeat leaves the UMP limping into the election, especially with the far-right National Front (FN) looking to scoop up voters after a strong showing in the first round of the presidential election in April. According to the Opinionway poll, the UMP would garner 31 percent of the vote with Marine Le Pen's FN tallying 16 percent. While this would give the right biggest proportion of the vote, the UMP has ruled out any alliance with the FN even though polls have shown most of its voters are open to such a deal. Sarkozy's prime minister, Francois Fillon, now replaced by an interim Socialist prime minister in place at least until the parliamentary election, stirred hostilities within his own party on Wednesday when he said the UMP had "no natural leader". His comments, undermining UMP boss Jean-Francois Cope, could be the first shots in a battle to be the next conservative presidential candidate. If candidates poll more than 12.5 percent in the first round, they move on to the June 17 runoff. Were candidates from the National Front, Left and UMP all to qualify, the ensuing three-way contest would be won with a simple majority. The survey was based on interviews with 1,836 adults carried out between May 23-25. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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