Paris  – Lille Mayor and former labour minister Martine Aubry was elected to lead the Socialists, narrowly beating out unsuccessful 2007 presidential candidate Segolene Royal, France’s second-largest party said Saturday.

Aubry, 58, received 50.02 per cent of the 137,000 votes cast Friday, or 42 ballots more than Royal, the party said.

Aubry would replace Francois Hollande, Royal’s former partner, who is stepping down after leading the party for 11 years.

As the closeness of the vote delayed the announcement of the results early Saturday, Royal’s camp called for a third round of voting.

A Royal spokesman said there were doubts about whether the runoff was conducted properly and Royal’s supporters were seeking a revote by the party’s 230,000 members.

Aubry rejected the call for a revote, saying there was no reason for one. She was seconded by Hollande.

It became known early Friday that the Socialist Party would be led by a woman for the first time in its history after the three-candidate race was reduced to two when European Parliament deputy Benoit Hamon failed to make the runoff.

Royal, 55, came out on top in the first round with 43.1 per cent of the vote to 35.4 per cent for Aubry.

Hamon, who received 22.8 per cent, urged his supporters to vote for Aubry, making her the favourite going into the run-off.

In 2007, Royal became the first Frenchwoman to make it to the second round of the presidential election, but she was soundly beaten by now-President Nicolas Sarkozy. (dpa)