This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38126222
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| France presidential race: Fillon wins conservative candidacy | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Francois Fillon is to be the conservative candidate in next year's French presidential election after his rival Alain Juppe conceded defeat. | Francois Fillon is to be the conservative candidate in next year's French presidential election after his rival Alain Juppe conceded defeat. |
| Early results show Mr Fillon had won Sunday's run-off with about 67% of the vote, with the majority of polling stations counted. | |
| Mr Fillon said action was now needed to build a fairer society. | Mr Fillon said action was now needed to build a fairer society. |
| He is likely to face a Socialist candidate and the far-right's Marine Le Pen in next April's election. | He is likely to face a Socialist candidate and the far-right's Marine Le Pen in next April's election. |
| "My approach has been understood," he told his supporters after the result became clear. "France can't bear its decline. It was truth and it wants action." | |
| Who is French presidential candidate Fillon? | |
| Mr Juppe, who had been the more moderate candidate and had long been considered the favourite, congratulated Mr Fillon on his "large victory" and pledged his support. | |
| Analysis by Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Paris | |
| Francois Fillon was the man to beat going into this run-off vote, and his team knew it. | |
| Shortly after polls closed, they were already celebrating at his party headquarters, as the first partial results came in. Within hours, it was confirmed. Mr Fillon had won two-thirds of the vote; a stunning victory for the candidate once seen as the 'third man' in the contest. | |
| Alain Juppe appeared in front of his own, determined supporters, to concede the contest. He gave a small smile to the crowds chanting his name and told them he was ending the contest as he began it: "A free man, who didn't betray who he was or what he thought." | |
| The job for Mr Fillon now is to unite his party after this unprecedented primary battle, and prepare to take on the governing Socialist party - and the far-right leader Marine Le Pen - in presidential elections next year. |