#A to Z BBC Help Terms of Use BBC Accessibility links * Skip to content * Skip to local navigation * Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation * Skip to bbc.co.uk search * Help * Accessibility Help BBC News Europe * Home * UK * Africa * Asia * Europe * Latin America * Mid-East * US & Canada * Business * Health * Sci/Environment * Tech * Entertainment * Video 16 October 2011 Last updated at 21:02 GMT Share this page * Delicious * Digg * Facebook * reddit * StumbleUpon * Twitter * Email * Print Hollande set to challenge Sarkozy in presidential vote Francois Hollande Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The French Socialist Party has chosen its candidate, Francois Hollande Continue reading the main story Related Stories * Profile: Francois Hollande * Profile: French Socialist contenders * In pictures: French Socialist vote Francois Hollande has been elected the French Socialist Party's candidate for the 2012 presidential vote, where he is expected to face Nicolas Sarkozy. His rival, Martine Aubry, conceded victory in Sunday's primary run-off before final results were known. In his victory speech, Mr Hollande said he would champion those who could "no longer bear" Mr Sarkozy's policies. Opinion polls suggest he could beat President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has not formally declared his own bid. Mr Hollande had a lead of 56% to 44% over his rival in the count. It is the first time voters have taken part in a US-style primary race, and some 2.7 million voters took part in the run-off. One of Mr Sarkozy's top allies dismissed Mr Hollande's election result as weak. 'A new left' Continue reading the main story Analysis image of Hugh Schofield Hugh Schofield BBC News, Paris __________________________________________________________________ Francois Hollande has been lucky. He was lucky because the man tipped to win the Socialist primary - Dominique Strauss-Kahn - disqualified himself in a sexual escapade in a Manhattan hotel. And he was lucky because his eventual rival - former minister Martine Aubry - is hardly the most charismatic of politicians. But Francois Hollande also worked hard for this victory. More than a year ago he started planning for the leadership race. He has criss-crossed the country building up networks of support. And he has staked out a careful position that manages to look both left-wards (to the party's official programme and its commitments to the public sector) and centre-wards (with promises of fiscal responsibility to get France through the debt crisis). Now comes the hard part. Francois Hollande has shown that he is a consensual figure, with a genial character that makes him hard to dislike. But does he really have what it takes to go through months of brutal campaigning against Nicolas Sarkozy - and then lead France through the difficult years that surely lie ahead? Remember: this is a man who has never once in his life held ministerial office, even at a junior level. But then, as his supporters say, nor had Barack Obama. * Dream start for Hollande Speaking at Socialist headquarters in Paris, Mr Hollande said: "I have heard the anger and concerns of a great number of people, unemployment, job insecurity, high rents, healthcare which is becoming more and more inaccessible. "I have noticed the concerns about our common future, the failures of globalisation, the failings of Europe, the environment." "France must find a plan again which will give it back all of its meaning," Mr Hollande said, adding that he would "show a different vision of the presidency". He would, he said, be "the candidate of respect and dialogue". "I want to offer France's youth a better life than ours: I want to put the magic back in the French dream," he said. In her concession speech, Ms Aubry, who leads the Socialist Party, said she welcomed Mr Hollande's victory and would invest all her "strength and energy to ensure that he is the president of France seven months from now". Mr Hollande became the party favourite after the withdrawal of previous Socialist front-runner Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former head of the International Monetary Fund who was arrested in New York earlier this year on suspicion of attempted rape, a charge later dropped. Francois Hollande, who led the party for more than a decade before Ms Aubry, is seen as a genial, consensus politician but critics point to his lack of experience in government, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris. Mr Sarkozy, who won power in 2007 after 12 years of fellow conservative Jacques Chirac, has yet to declare a re-election bid but is widely expected to do so. Continue reading the main story "Start Quote There is anger to be tapped into and exploited by a Socialist candidate" End Quote image of Gavin Hewitt Gavin Hewitt BBC Europe editor __________________________________________________________________ * Testing times for the left in Europe Opinion polls suggest he would trail Mr Hollande in the election, which takes place in two rounds on 22 April and 6 May. Jean-Francois Cope, who leads Mr Sarkozy's UMP party, sought to play down Mr Hollande's victory. Speaking on France 2 TV, he said the Socialist candidate should have taken "65% or 70%" after all the endorsements he had received from his rivals in the first round. Dismissing Mr Hollande and Ms Aubry as "two sides of the same coin", he said the leaders of the right and centre-right would now seek to "re-balance the debate", and the Socialists would have "a lot of questions" to answer. More on This Story Related Stories * Profile: Francois Hollande 16 OCTOBER 2011, EUROPE * Profile: French Socialist contenders 12 OCTOBER 2011, EUROPE * In pictures: French Socialist vote 16 OCTOBER 2011, EUROPE Related Internet links * French Socialist Party (in French) The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites Share this page * Delicious * Digg * Facebook * reddit * StumbleUpon * Twitter * Email * Print More Europe stories RSS * 'Honest election' protesters in Moscow, Russia, on 4 February 2012 Thousands in rival Moscow marches Thousands of people march in Moscow in protest at Prime Minister Valdimir Putin, while his supporters hold a rally elsewhere in Russia's capital. * French air workers to hold strike * Europe hit by Russia gas shortage Top Stories * People walk past houses that according to residents were damaged during a military crackdown on protesters against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Rasten near Homs, 3 February Syria forces 'in Homs massacre' * Afghan civilian death toll rises * Thousands in rival Moscow marches * Obama urges 'keep recovery going' * Saigon fall reporter dies at 79 Features & Analysis * People Counting people Do the dead outnumber the living - or is it the other way round? ______________________________________________________________ * Sea Hunter Treasure hunt Watch US explorers set sights on $3bn loot from British shipwreck ______________________________________________________________ * A competitor runs through water during the Tough Guy Challenge endurance race Week in pictures A selection of news photos from around the world this week ______________________________________________________________ * Greek former journalist Vicky Kolozi, who now goes to a soup kitchen in Athens Hard times How poverty is changing the face of Greece's poor ______________________________________________________________ Most Popular Shared 1. 1: Do the dead outnumber the living? 2. 2: Much of Britain braced for snow 3. 3: Striking galaxy image from Hubble 4. 4: The 'new homeless' of Greece 5. 5: Artist set for Facebook windfall Read 1. 1: Do the dead outnumber the living? 2. 2: Europe hit by Russia gas shortage 3. 3: Briton 'seen falling from liner' 4. 4: Anger over NY police Muslim memo 5. 5: Much of Britain braced for snow 6. 6: Thousands in rival Moscow marches 7. 7: Artist set for Facebook windfall 8. 8: UN 'to vote on Syria resolution' 9. 9: Week in pictures: 28 January-3 February 10. 10: The 'new homeless' of Greece Video/Audio 1. 1: Dog's death ends cat owner battle Watch 2. 2: 'Flying people' and other tech news Watch 3. 3: Temperatures 'set to reach -12' Watch 4. 4: One-minute World News Watch 5. 5: US treasure hunters seek lost platinum Watch 6. 6: Heavy rains cause havoc in Australia Watch 7. 7: Russian fuel supplies shortage Watch 8. 8: Elderly 'must take cold seriously' Watch 9. 9: Cardboard Ayatollah lampooned Watch 10. 10: Art by animals goes on show Watch Elsewhere on the BBC * Working on a tablet computer The way we'll work A senior Google exec predicts the technology that will transform businesses Programmes * Courtesy: Thinkmodo / 20th Century Fox Click Watch Is it a bird? 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