France braces for possible surprise in 2017 elections after Francoise Fillon's victory in first round

Nicolas Sarkozy crashes out of French Right-wing primaries as Thatcherite François Fillon emerges as a surprise victor in the first round of the Republican primary. Francoise Fillon won the vote by 16 percentage points from the pre-vote favourite Alain Juppe.

Opnion polls show far-right leader Marine Le Pen emerging as one of the top two candidates in the first round. The nominee for the Republicans party will then face Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-EU, anti-immigrant Front National, in the definitive presidential run-off next May.

After Donald Trump's shock win in the United States, a surprise should not be ruled out in France's presidential election next year. Incumbent Francois Hollande, who has yet to confirm his candidacy, is the most unpopular president in history, polls show no other leftist candidate has much of a chance. Francoise Fillon is now the clear favourite to win the second round of voting on Sunday and to become the next president. However, other independent candidates could shake up the political landscape.

2017 election is also one of the most open in decades because for the first time both mainstream centre-right and centre-left parties will pick a candidate via a primary system open to any registered voter, making likely outcomes harder to measure for pollsters.

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