Guardian.co.uk
First time since 1979 that sitting French president's party has won European Elections while Europe Ecologie scores high share of vote!
Two parties last night claimed victory in the French European elections as Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling centre-right UMP topped the poll and the new Europe Ecologie green coalition won a surprise high score to force climate change back onto the agenda for all French politicians.
Sarkozy's party increased its seats from 17 to around 30, far ahead of the beleaguered Socialist party, whose disappointing result saw the humiliating loss of around half its seats in the European parliament.
It was the first time since 1979 that a sitting French president's party had won a European election.
Two parties last night claimed victory in the French European elections as Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling centre-right UMP topped the poll and the new Europe Ecologie green coalition won a surprise high score to force climate change back onto the agenda for all French politicians.
Sarkozy's party increased its seats from 17 to around 30, far ahead of the beleaguered Socialist party, whose disappointing result saw the humiliating loss of around half its seats in the European parliament.
It was the first time since 1979 that a sitting French president's party had won a European election.
The government claimed the UMP's projected 28% of the vote was a seal of approval for its handling of the economic crisis and Sarkozy's high-profile French EU presidency last year.
The other major winner was Europe Ecologie, headed by the former May 1968 student leader and Europe veteran Daniel Cohn-Bendit.
The party was projected to come third with around 16.2%, less than 1% behind the Socialists.
The effects of this green surge were immediately felt in the wider political discourse.
The centre-right Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, carefully adapted his victory speech to stress the EU's fight against climate change.
Europe Ecologie's campaign was driven by key personalities in France, including the investigating judge Eva Joly, who led the inquiry into the Elf oil scandal, as well as the radical sheep-farmer José Bové.
In the Greater Paris and South East regions, Europe Ecologie overtook the Socialists.
Martine Aubry, the new Socialist leader, admitted her party was no longer credible, that it needed to stop internal divisions and profoundly reform.
A big loser was Francois Bayrou, the centrist who came third in the presidential election of 2007.
He had used the European campaign to attack Sarkozy and build support for another presidential bid in 2012, but appeared to commit political suicide in the final days of the campaign when he launched a highly criticised live TV slanging match with the Europe Ecologie leader, Cohn-Bendit.
His party had hoped to come third tonight but instead scored around 8%, far behind the green coalition.
The opposition to the government was split into several centre-left and extreme-left parties, with many still maintaining last night that their total combined vote showed a high anti-Sarkozy feeling in France.
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