Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande head for runoff

French President Nicolas Sarkozy faces an uphill struggle in the second round of the presidential election, after coming second in Sunday's first vote.

He won only 27.1%, while his socialist rival Francois Hollande took 28.6% of the vote, the first time a sitting president has lost in first round.

Third-place Marine Le Pen took the largest share of the vote her far-right National Front has ever won with 18.1%.

The two men will face each other in a second round of voting on 6 May.

The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says his narrow victory in this round gives Francois Hollande crucial momentum ahead of the run-off in two weeks' time.

Analysts suggest Mr Sarkozy will now need to appeal to the far-right voters who backed Ms Le Pen if he is to hold on to the presidency, but Mr Hollande remains the front runner.

Around one in five people voted for the National Front candidate, including many young and working class voters, putting her ahead of seven other candidates.

BBC News