Exit polls suggest Conservative win in French departmental elections

Nicolas Sarkozy's Conservative UMP Party appear to have the lead in final round of departmental elections

France’s Conservative, UMP Party, led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, seem to have the lead in the final round of departmental elections.

According to exit polls, the party seems to have won at least 65 local councils, up from an estimated 41.

The Far-right National Front party, run by Marine Le Pen, also appears to have made gains whereas the leading Socialists and their allies may stand to lose around 30 departments, in the elections considered as a test ahead of the 2017 presidential election.

However, France’s two biggest cities, Paris and Lyon, were not included in Sunday’s elections.

Exit polls said that Le Pen’s National Front appeared to have won a significant number of seats in Sunday's second round of elections, but did not appear to have gained control of any councils.

Le Pen however thanked all voters for the “magnificent success."

"The goal is near, reaching power and applying our ideas to redress France," she added.

French Prime Minister Manual Valls said that it was "incontestable" that the Socialist Party had lost ground.

"The French have declared... their anger at a daily life that is too difficult," he said, vowing to redouble efforts to boost the economy.

He added that the rise in the National Front's popularity was "a sign of a lasting upheaval of our political landscape and we will all need to draw lessons from it".

Sarkozy said that voters had "massively rejected" the policies of his successor as president, Francois Hollande.

"Never has our political family won so many councils. The repudiation of those in power is without question," he reiterated.

Hollande has suffered from falling personal ratings, boosted only briefly by his response to January's terror attacks in Paris.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, Turnout on Sunday was 41.94% three hours before polls closed and surveys suggested about 50% of those eligible took part in the polls.

Voters have been electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, in the two rounds of the local elections. The departments are charged with issues like schools and welfare.