French Socialists probe contested vote

France’s feuding Socialists will hear today whether they have a new party leader following a hotly disputed vote.

Former presidential candidate Segolene Royal has contested the results announced by party officials at the weekend that her rival, Martine Aubry, had won by a razor-thin margin. Royal is demanding a re-run.

A party commission has been put in charge of reviewing the results and will pass its findings on to the party’s ruling body, which will decide whether the results are valid or not.

Claiming outright victory at the weekend, Aubry called on party members to put their differences behind them and rally to her cause – an unlikely scenario, whatever the ruling, for France’s deeply divided Socialists.