France presidential election: François Hollande topples Nicolas Sarkozy

Mr Hollande – who said the French people had chosen “change” – gave a triumphant victory speech on Sunday night after winning close to 52 per cent of the vote.

His election is likely to herald signicant changes in how the country tackles the debt crisis –with analysts saying it will have a significant impact on the rest of the eurozone too.

Mr Hollande has pushed for a renegotiation of the European treaty of budget discipline, which Mr Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel had championed.

Speaking in Tulle in central France, Mr Hollande told his supporters: “Europe is watching us. Austerity can no longer be the only option”.

He said European partners should be relieved and not frightened by his presidency.

“I am proud to have been able to give people hope again,” Mr Hollande told the huge crowds. “We will succeed.”

Thousands filled the Place de la Bastille, the iconic plaza of the French Revolution which has become a rallying point for the French left, to celebrate Mr Hollande’s victory on Sunday. It marks the first time a socialist has held the post since 1995.

Mr Hollande inherits an economy deep in debt. He wants more government stimulus and more government spending in general, despite concerns in the markets that France needs to urgently trim its huge debt.

Mr Sarkozy conceded defeat minutes after the polls closed, saying he had called Mr Hollande to wish him “good luck” as the country’s new leader.

Mr Sarkozy, who ultimately paid the price for budget cuts and his handling of the economy, said he did his best to win a second term, despite widespread anger at his handling of the economy.

He said: “I bear responsibility for the defeat. I committed myself totally, fully, but I didn’t succeed in convincing a majority of French.”

He added: “François Hollande is the president of France and he must be respected”.

Mr Hollande has almost no foreign policy experience, but he will face his first tests right after his inauguration, which must happen no later than 16 May.

Among his first trips will be to the United States later this month for summits of Nato – where he will announce he is pulling French troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year – and the Group of Eight leading world economies.

But his first challenge will be dealing with Germany. He has promised to make his first foreign trip to Berlin to work on the relationship post-“Merkozy”.

Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, congratulated Mr Hollande on his victory and said both countries would continue to co- operate in driving the European Union’s policies and be “a stabilising factor and a motor for the European Union”.

Mr Westerwelle said: “Overcoming the debt crisis is a joint objective, a German-French objective. We have agreed on a fiscal treaty for less debt and we will now jointly draft a growth pact that will create more growth alongside greater competitiveness.”

Prime Minister David Cameron also spoke to Mr Hollande on Sunday night to congratulate him.

At home, the new president intends to modify one of Mr Sarkozy’s key reforms, the retirement age, to allow some people to retire at 60 instead of 62.

He also plans to increase spending in a range of sectors and wants to ease France off its dependence on nuclear energy. He favors legalising euthanasia and gay marriage.

But Sarkozy supporters believe a chance in economic policy could see France end up like some of the struggling European economies – namely Greece.

“We’re going to call France the new Greece,” said Laetitia Barone, 19. “Hollande is now very dangerous.”

Mr Sarkozy had said he would quit politics if he lost, but was vague about his plans for the future. “You can count on me to defend these ideas, convictions,” he said, “but my place cannot be the same.”

People of all ages and different ethnicities celebrated Mr Hollande’s victory at the Bastille.

Ghylaine Lambrecht, 60, who celebrated the 1981 victory of François Mitterrand at the same spot, was among them.

“I’m so happy. We had to put up with Sarko for ten years,” she said referring to Sarkozy’s time as interior and finance minister and five years as president. “In the past few years the rich have been getting richer. Now, long live France, an open democratic France.”

“It’s magic!” said Violaine Chenais, 19. “François Hollande is not perfect, but it’s clear France thinks its time to give the Left a chance. We’re going to celebrate with drink and hopefully some dancing.”

Mr Hollande’s former partner and mother of his four children, Segolène Royal, said she has a “feeling of profound joy to see millions and millions of French renew the tie to the Left”.

Ms Royal faced off Mr Sarkozy in the 2007 election.

The result is the second time since 1958 that a president has failed to win re-election. In 1981, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing lost to Mr Mitterand.