KEY POINTS:
Segolene Royal's quest to become France's first woman head of state received strong backing from her Socialist party when she was crowned its presidential candidate in a primary election.
Royal was on course for a resounding victory, party official Stephane Le Foll told reporters. "The results show rather clearly that there will only be one round of voting and that we can say that Segolene Royal will be the Socialist party candidate," he said.
A spokesman for Royal said she was set to win between 55 and 60 per cent of the vote. Her two male rivals, former finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn and former prime minister Laurent Fabius, were fighting it out for second place.
Royal made a brief appearance before the cameras and promised to unite the left before next year's presidential vote.
"The fact that I have been chosen in this way is something extraordinary," the 53-year-old told reporters in western France, where she is president of the Poitou-Charentes region.
"I want to embody change and give it credibility and legitimacy. And I think today, I have received this legitimacy."
Clapping supporters circled her chanting "Segolene, president - Segolene, president".
Despite a long career in French politics, Royal has sold herself as a fresh face, strong on traditional values and ready to listen.
Her straight-forward language and old-fashioned glamour has gone down a storm with many voters who have grown tired of a generation of male leaders cast from the same elitist mould.
Her main opponent next year is likely to be conservative front runner Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister and head of the ruling party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
An Ipsos opinion poll published in the weekly Le Point predicted a 50-50 draw if Royal and Sarkozy faced each other in a second round run-off.
"We have six months of work. They will be used in an intensive and all-embracing fashion," Royal said, promising to consult widely.
There has only been one Socialist President in the history of France's Fifth republic - Francois Mitterrand, who held office from 1981 to 1995.
Royal will face a difficult task uniting her party, which is still scarred by the 2002 election when Lionel Jospin went out in the first round, beaten into third place by far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
And despite her victory, she will have to work hard to win over many opponents within her own camp, who have denounced her during the campaign as a lightweight populist.
Conservative President Jacques Chirac has said he will only announce next year if he will seek an unprecedented third term in the election, but most analysts do not rate his chances.
The presidential election's first round is on April 22.
