Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been elected head of the opposition UMP, in what is being seen as the start of a new bid for the presidency. Sarkozy gained 64.5% of the vote, well ahead of his nearest rival Bruno le Marie, BBC reports. He was under pressure to win by a wide margin, and hoped to get more than 70% to keep his re-election hopes alive. The UMP has struggled to be effective in opposition to Francois Hollande, despite the presidents dismal ratings. Sarkozy, 59, won 85% of the vote when he was first elected party leader in 2004. He served as president from 2007 and 2012 but left active politics after his defeat to Mr Hollande. More than 150,000 party members - over 50% - voted in the election, despite the process being slowed down by a cyber attack. Le Maire, a former agriculture minister, received just less than 29.2% and a third candidate, MP Herve Mariton 6.3%. - BBC. bbc/news/world-europe-30264534
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:15:50 +0000
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