........Le Pen's record score of 19.6 percent was the sensation of the night,
beating her father's 2002 result and outpolling hard leftist Jean-Luc
Melenchon in fourth place on 11 percent. Centrist Francois Bayrou
finished fifth on less than 9 percent.
It was the first time a sitting president seeking re-election had been
beaten into second place in the first round. But Sarkozy backers at his
campaign headquarters chanted "We are going to win", interpreting Le
Pen's score as more significant than Hollande's narrow lead over the
incumbent.
Before voting, opinion polls had suggested a comfortable win for the Socialist in the second round.
Le Pen, who took over the anti-immigration National Front in 2011, wants
jobs reserved for French nationals at a time when jobless claims are at
a 12-year high. She also wants France to abandon the euro currency and
restore monetary policy to Paris.
"This first round is the start of a vast gathering of right-wing
patriots," she told cheering supporters at her campaign headquarters,
without endorsing either of the finalists.
"Nothing will ever be the same again."
Le Pen's unexpectedly high score reflected a surge in anti-establishment
populist parties in many euro zone countries from the Netherlands to
Greece as austerity and the debt crisis bite.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, visibly elated at his daughter's result, said the
National Front would now focus on winning seats in June parliamentary
elections. "There is a lot of hope for us," he told France 2 television
as party supporters shouted "Victory!"
