Mar 16, 2008, 20:29 GMT
Paris - Early estimates based on exit polls in a number of French cities suggest that the opposition Socialists handed President Nicolas Sarkozy a stinging defeat in Sunday's local run-off elections.
According to estimates by the TNS-Sofres, Socialist challengers defeated conservative mayors in the politically important cities of Toulouse and Strasbourg.
Socialists also ousted right-wing incumbents in the cities of Reims, Amiens, Saint-Etienne, Caen, Blois and Quimper.
In addition, Education Minister Xavier Darcos conceded that he lost his mayor's post in Perigeux, despite the fact that Prime Minister Francois Fillon made a special stop to boost his candidacy.
Socialist former Labour Minister Martine Aubry was re-elected mayor of Lille with some 66 per cent of the vote, while former centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou was narrowly defeated by his Socialist opponent in the south-western city of Pau.
Estimates were expected later Sunday from Paris and Marseille.
In a first reaction, Fillon said it was 'out of place to draw conclusions on a national level' from the results since the vote was not representative of the true state of voter feeling in the country because of the low turnout and because of local issues.
According to estimates by several polling institutes, fewer than two out of three registered voters cast their ballots on Sunday, the lowest-ever turnout for French local elections.
Fillon declared that, despite the setback, 'we will pursue our policies' of reform.
It is unlikely that Sarkozy will shake up his government as a result of the vote less than four months before France takes over the presidency of the European Union.
What French analysts expect, instead, is a modest reshuffle of his personal advisors and a change of style.
The daily Le Monde reported that Sarkozy's plunge in the polls has already led to a change in the way the president conducts himself.
On his recent trip to South Africa, gone were the designer sunglasses in which Sarkozy had been frequently photographed. In addition, his jogging outfit and ostentatious wristwatch have virtually vanished from his public appearances.
Sarkozy and his ex-model wife, Carla, have also disappeared from the covers of the glamour magazines they dominated for months.
'He has been forced to adapt,' one of his advisors told Le Monde.
But a leader of the UMP said it remained to be seen 'if Sarkozy will have the force of character to persist in his metamorphosis.'
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