French Socialists Says Aubry Beat Royal In Poll

Royal has refused to recognise the result of Friday`s poll of the party`s 233,000 members after Aubry was named victor by 42 votes.

Martine Aubry won a disputed Socialist leadership ballot by a bigger margin than reported, a party commission said on Tuesday, dealing a blow to Segolene Royal's hopes of heading the French opposition.

Royal, the Socialist flag bearer in last year's presidential election, has refused to recognise the result of Friday's poll of the party's 233,000 members after Aubry was named victor by just 42 votes.

A Socialist commission was set up to look into allegations made by the Royal camp of vote rigging and irregularities, but after two days of work, it announced that Aubry had actually beaten Royal by 102 votes.

The Socialist's top council is due to meet later on Tuesday to ratify the result.

Royal has demanded a new leadership vote, saying too many doubts clouded the original ballot, but senior officials say the party hierarchy is unlikely to bow to her demand.

Aubry, the architect of France's now-defunct 35-hour work week, proclaimed herself the winner at the weekend and urged the fractured party to rally around her flag.

Some Socialists have warned the party might break into two because of the row, which is based as much on personal loathing as ideological differences, but Royal herself said at the weekend she had no intention of abandoning the leftist ship.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's supporters have barely concealed their glee at the Socialist woes, which is likely to distract the opposition for months to come leaving the path clear for the centre-right government to push ahead with its reform programme.