French left beats Sarkozy's party in regional vote

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is meeting his prime minister first thing today to work out a response to their conservative party’s crushing defeat in regional elections, a vote that informally kicked off the 2012 presidential race.

While no major government changes were expected, Sarkozy’s chief of staff, Claude Gueant, predicted a “modest reshuffle” in the days following Sunday’s regional elections.

The long-flailing French left made a big comeback in the poll, which was coloured by worries about jobs, pay and pensions in the wake of France’s worst recession since World War II.

Cheers resounded from Socialist Party headquarters as leftists swept races from the French Riviera to Paris. With 97% of ballots counted, the Socialists and their allies won 54% of the vote nationwide, while Sarkozy’s UMP party had 35.3%, according to the Interior Ministry.

Turnout, though, hit record lows in yesterday’s runoff – at 51 % – and in the first round a week earlier, when it was just 46%.

The results show what a rough road the dynamic but increasingly isolated Sarkozy has ahead of him between now and 2012.

Nationwide strikes are planned tomorrow by some of those who punished his party on Sunday: train drivers angry over pension reforms that are a pillar of his presidential policy, and teachers angry over job cuts. Meanwhile, he faces new challenges from a popular green movement and a reinvigorated extreme right.

Sunday’s vote came close to the sweep of all 26 regions that the Socialists were hoping for. Official results showed the conservatives holding on to Alsace but losing control of Corsica. Those were the only two regions run by the right going into the vote.

“These elections show that the French are worried,” Prime Minister Francois Fillon said. “I take my share of the responsibility.”

Fillon blamed the recession for his party’s bad showing, but warned France can no longer finance its generous social benefits without cost-cutting, and suggested reforms would continue.

For the left, Sunday’s election may help rescue the Socialists from a spiral of decline, after years divided and drifting.

Party leader Martine Aubry remained prudent in her newfound conqueror role. “The French have spoken, they must be listened to,” she said, adding: “We take this victory with responsibility.”

The Socialists were boosted by alliances with far left parties and especially with Europe Ecologie, a movement of green parties enjoying growing popularity.

The challenge now is for the left to keep those ties from unravelling.

The far right National Front reversed its decline and won 9.5% of votes overall in the 12 regions where it made it into Sunday’s runoff – and in some regions topped 20%. Its score reflected persistent French concerns about immigration and the country’s evolving national identity.

Yesterday’s elections decided the leadership of 26 regional councils from the French mainland to far-flung provinces in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.

All France’s past regional elections have favoured the opposition. The Socialists bulldozed their way across France in the last vote in 2004, but performed even better this year.