PARIS, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Nicolas Sarkozy was elected to head a conservative French opposition party Saturday, bringing the former French president back into the spotlight for a possible presidential bid.
Sarkozy received 64.5 percent of the vote to lead the UMP, an umbrella of conservative parties in France. His closest competitor, Bruno le Marie, received 29.2 percent.
The victory puts Sarkozy in position to challenge current President Francoise Hollande in the 2017 election. Sarkozy lost to Hollande, a Socialist, in 2012 after holding the presidency for five years.
The vote comes the same year corruption charges against Sarkozy related to his 2007 campaign were raised in July and dropped in September.
The last time the 59-year-old former president was voted to head UMP was in Nov. 2004, when he received 85 percent of the vote.
In order to cement support and assure re-election in 2017, in the most recent election Sarkozy was under pressure to get at least 70 percent of the vote, of which he fell 5.5 percent short.
In September, current President Hollande's approval rating was polled at a record low of 13 percent.
