Sarkozy still French election favourite

French conservative presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy remains favourite to win the country's election, according to a poll…

French conservative presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy remains favourite to win the country's election, according to a poll published today.

The Ipsos/Dellpoll for SFR and Le Pointshowed Mr Sarkozy would get 29.5 per cent of votes in the first round of the elections in late April, up 0.5 points from before.

Socialist candidate Segolene Royal would get 24 per cent of votes, a rise of 1 point. Centrist candidate Francois Bayrou, who has made a recent surge in opinion polls, slipped by 1 point in the survey which showed him receiving 22 per cent of votes.

The poll said Mr Sarkozy would win the second round of the election, getting 53 per cent of votes compared to 47 per cent for Ms Royal.