Francois Fillon is now the favourite to win French Presidency
The final round of voting for the head of the French Conservative party took place today and with just over half the votes counted, his rival Alain Juppe conceded. The tally at that point was 68.4% to 31.6% in favour of Fillion.
Juppe immediately pledged his support to Fillon, who pledged to fire 500,000 bureaucrats and launch Thatcher-style reforms. He's also tapped into the anti-immigrant vote and that places him in a strong position against Marine Le Pen in May's Presidential election.
A snap poll from Harris Interactive showed Fillon would peak Le Pen 67% to 33% in a head-to-head race.
"My approach has been understood: France can't bear its decline. It wants truth and it wants action," said Fillon.
That sounds awfully like: Make France Great Again.
"The Islamic religion (must) accept what all the others have accepted in the past... that radicalism and provocation have no place here," he said at his final on Friday.
He will also face a candidate from the Socialists, who will hold a contest to possibly replace Hollande on Jan 22 with a runoff on Jan 29.