French far-right loses vote in northern town

By Pierre Savary HENIN-BEAUMONT, France, July 5 (Reuters) - The far-right National Front party failed to win a municipal election in a former coal mining town in northern France on Sunday despite earlier expectations that it might take power. The National Front, whose candidates included Marine Le Pen, daughter of party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, clinched 47.6 percent after voters rallied around Daniel Duquenne, who represented several leftist groups. Duquenne took 52.4 percent of the vote. In the first round of the vote to run Henin-Beaumont, which suffers from high unemployment, the National Front had led with 40 percent. Duquenne had trailed far behind with around 20 percent while Socialist candidate Pierre Ferrari had emerged with 17 percent in that first round. "We have lost," National Front spokesman Bruno Bilde told Reuters shortly before the official result was announced. Reacting on BFM television, special adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy, Henri Guaino, welcomed the outcome. "The voters of Henin-Beaumont have chosen and they have chosen well," said Guaino. Had the National Front won, Henin-Beaumont would have become the only town hall of significant size under National Front control. Many across France were worried about the prospect of the party gaining a northern bastion after it lost power in a number of towns with more than 5,000 dwellers since the late 1990s. The election in Henin-Beaumont was triggered after the former Socialist mayor resigned in a funding scandal, hurting the party's reputation. National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked France by finishing second in the 2002 presidential vote. But his party has been in decline since a disappointing performance in the 2007 presidential elections and Sarkozy has successfully drawn away supporters by taking a tough line on immigration and crime. The party also performed poorly in the June 7 European Parliament elections despite some success of far-right parties in other countries around Europe. (Reporting by Pierre Savary and Gerard Bon) Keywords: FRANCE FARRIGHT/ ([e-mail] ; + 33 1 4949 5218; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] ) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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