France votes: Socialist Francois Hollande 'on top'

22 April 2012 Last updated at 14:19 ET Help

French Socialist Francois Hollande has won most votes in the first round of the country's presidential election, early estimates show.

He got about 28.6% of votes, according to projections based on partial results, against about 27% for centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

The two men will face each other in a second-round run-off on 6 May.

Gavin Hewitt reports.

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.