France Elections: Hollande and Sarkozy Battle for 1st, But Anti Euro Protest Votes Steals The Show

The 1st round of the french election was a show of the protest vote. Centre-left Hollande narrowly beat the conservative Sarkozy in Sunday's 10-candidate first round by 28.6% vs 27.1%, with 99% of votes counted.

 She wants France to abandon the euro currency

 Le Pen, the far right candidate daughter of former paratrooper and National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen stole the show by surging to 18.0%, the strongest result for a far-right candidate.

First Round Totals

• Hollande: 28.6%
• Sarkozy: 27.1%
• Le Pen: 18%

Le Pen's "breakthrough mirrored advances by anti-establishment Euroskeptical populists from Amsterdam and Vienna to Helsinki and Athens as anger over austerity, unemployment and bailout fatigue deepen due to the euro zone's grinding debt crisis".

 "The battle of France has only just begun," She said: "We are now the only real opposition."