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Exit polls: Victory for conservative UMP party in French elections

Exit polls suggest the UMP, led by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will gain up to 65 departments from its previous 41, while the current president's ruling Socialist Party is set to lose half of its 61 departments.

By Fred Lambert

PARIS, March 29 (UPI) -- Exit polls indicate a victory for the center-right UMP party and a sizable loss of representation for President Francois Hollande's ruling Socialist Party in the second round of French elections Sunday.

The local elections, widely expected to foreshadow 2017 presidential elections, saw a turnout of 41.94 percent of French voters choosing representatives for over 101 departments, or administrative regions similar to counties.

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The biggest winner was former President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party, which increased its 41 departments to at least 65, while the current president's Socialist Party lost half of its 61 departments.

"Never has our political family won so many councils," the BBC quoted Sarkozy as saying. "The repudiation of those in power is without question."

The BBC reports that the far-right National Front won a significant amount to seats but not enough to control any departments, according to exit polls, though other reports suggest it may have gained as many as two.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen called the results a "magnificent success."

Sunday's results confirmed those in the first round of voting last week.

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French Prime Minister Manual Valls said the Socialist Party's losses were "incontestable" and that National Front gains were "a sign of a lasting upheaval of our political landscape, and we will all need to draw lessons from it."

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