Fillon takes big lead against Juppé in second round of centre-right primary
Former prime minister François Fillon has taken a strong lead in the second round of the French centre-right primary for the 2017 presidential elections.
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Early results from about 20 per cent of polling booths show he has polled 69.5 per cent of the votes as against 30.5 per cent for his rival Alain Juppé.
Polling for the second round of the centre-right primary began early Sunday morning. Voters will choose between Fillon and Juppé. Voters cast their ballots in ten thousand polling stations across the country which remained open till 7 pm.
Fillion upset predictions by comprehensively winning the first round last Sunday ahead of Juppé. With more than 44% of votes in the first round, Fillon registered nearly 650,000 votes more than Juppé (28.6%) who had a considerable lead before the televised debate involving all seven candidates which took place two days before the first round.
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