Party time for the No camp as Chirac is left in weakened position

Key points

• The French have rejected the European Union constitution by referendum

• Exit polls closed at 10pm and indicate a 55.6 per cent result for the No camp

• Blair's reaction to the result expected later today

Key quote

"France has expressed itself democratically. It's your sovereign decision, and I have taken note. Our interests and our ambitions are profoundly linked to Europe. France, a founding country of the union, naturally remains within the union." - JACQUES CHIRAC

Story in full FRANCE overwhelmingly rejected the new European Union constitution, exit polls showed last night, in a historic referendum decision which is expected to plunge the 25-member bloc into an unprecedented crisis.

For the first time, a founding member has directly opposed the current process of European integration.

Exit polls published immediately after polling stations in Paris and Lyon closed at 10pm local time gave the No camp a resounding victory at 55.6 per cent.

The French Interior Ministry went further and said that, based on early official results, the No camp had 57.26 per cent of the vote, compared to 42.74 per cent for Yes.

The result throws into doubt Britain's own referendum, due to take place in spring next year. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, last night said the scale of the No vote raised "profound questions" for the Union and brought the need for a period of "reflection" by all 25 member states.

He refused to say whether the constitution was dead, or whether a referendum would proceed in Britain regardless of the French veto.

Tony Blair is expected to give his reaction to the French vote today but it is not known whether he will give an immediate indication on whether the British poll will go ahead.

Wrangling over whether to try to salvage anything from the treaty could now overshadow Britain's six-month presidency of the EU, which begins on 1 July.

British supporters of the constitution were last night in despondent mood. Lucy Powell, campaign director of Britain in Europe, said: "If the exit polls reflect the final result, then this is very disappointing."

Labour's former Europe minister Denis MacShane said: "British pro-Europeans must learn the lesson of the victory for the No camp in France. The rejection of the constitutional treaty will unleash protectionist and isolationist political and economic forces in France and elsewhere in Europe."

If confirmed, the result is expected to deal a fatal blow to the EU constitution, which the Union has been working on since early 2002. The constitution cannot come into force unless it is ratified by all 25 EU members. So far nine have done so.

French leaders have repeatedly ruled out a repeat vote and dismissed suggestions it could be renegotiated, although they say it would help make Europe and France stronger in the face of economic threats from other countries such as China.

The defeat may also provoke political chaos in France where President Jacques Chirac becomes only the second leader, after General Charles de Gaulle, to lose a referendum since the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Mr Chirac, who had staked his political reputation on obtaining a Yes vote yesterday, is now severely damaged, both at home and on the world stage. Analysts agree he will be forced to fire his conservative Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, whose unpopularity is widely believed to have damaged the Yes campaign.

The opposition Socialist party may now find itself crippled due to bitter internal divisions which saw leader Francois Hollande, who supported the treaty, undermined by his number two, former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, a vocal opponent and one of the principal figures within the grassroots No camp.

The rejection of the constitution is also a victory for the extreme right-wing National Front party of Jean-Marie Le Pen and for the Communist party, both of which had campaigned for its defeat.

Mr Chirac conceded that voters had rejected the constitution, saying he accepted voters' "sovereign decision", but added that France would honour its European commitments.

"France has expressed itself democratically," Chirac said in a television address. "It's your sovereign decision, and I have taken note." Nevertheless, Chirac added: "Our interests and our ambitions are profoundly linked to Europe. France, a founding country of the union, naturally remains within the union."

For the last three months, an impassioned debate over the constitution had polarised a country which was one of the founding fathers of the European community. Although the No camp had been widely expected to win, analysts had predicted the vote would be close and victory for the Yes camp was still possible.

Despite the fact that 13 successive polls handed victory to the No side, Mr Chirac and his government, headed by conservative Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, were hoping that the 20 per cent of undecided voters would opt for a Yes at the last minute.

Many voters wanted to punish Chirac and his conservative government over unemployment, at a five-year high of 10.2 per cent, and other economic problems. Other critics were angry at what they saw as France's declining role in the Union and fearful of an ultra-liberal Anglo-Saxon style economy which would undermine their treasured social model.

Polling stations were open from 8am until 8 pm, except in Paris and Lyon where they closed at 10 pm. Voters in France's overseas departments and territories - of Gaudeloupe, Martinique, Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and Wallis and Fortuna - had cast their ballots on Saturday, but their votes were not revealed until after the Paris and Lyon polls closed.

By midday, over a quarter of the French electorate had already cast their vote, far outstripping turn-outs at the same stage for the 1992 referendum on the Maastricht Treaty on closer EU integration and the first round of the French presidential elections in 2002.

Exit polls showed all over participation was exceptionally high at around 70 per cent with 30 per cent abstaining.

The result was quickly followed by calls for Mr Chirac's resignation from Mr Le Pen and other leaders of the No camp.

However, the President had earlier made it clear he would not resign if the No vote won, but his pledge during an impassioned TV plea to the nation on Thursday that he would seek a "new political impetus" if the treaty was rejected was widely interpreted as a clear sign that Mr Raffarin would be quickly replaced.

The No campaign in Britain has called on the UK government to kill off the constitution or hold a referendum immediately - and says it will work to stop Europe's politicians ratifying the constitution by stealth by cherry-picking measures.

The campaign's Neil O'Brien said: "The government must now guarantee that the EU will not implement any of the constitution's contents by the back door." Eurosceptic Tory MP Bill Cash said last night: "We we want to have a decisive No ourselves. But the treaty is dead."

EYES ON FRENCH

IT WAS the referendum that polarised a nation, stirring the French into a frenzy of impassioned debate over the future of the European community.

The eyes of Europe, and indeed of the world, have turned towards France over the last few weeks as it became clear that the previously unthinkable - that France, one of the founding members of the EU, was capable of thumbing its nose at Europe by rejecting the constitution - was not just a possibility, but a probability.

Observers have watched in amazement as the Yes vote, which had the backing of all the mainstream parties from Jacques Chirac's ruling conservatives to most opposition socialists, and was the initial favourite to win, gradually lost ground to a vocal No movement.

While the No group had no official leader, it managed to unite the extreme left and right, from the communists to the National Front party of Jean-Marie Le Pen, militant trade unionists and anti-globalisation activists.

Polls showed support for the No camp rising from 40 per cent at the beginning of March to 54 per cent in mid-April. In early May they showed the Yes camp rallying, before the No side re-took the lead mid-month.

While whipping up fears over an ultra-liberal Anglo-Saxon-style European economy and the resultant erosion of the treasured French social model, the No camp also skilfully turned the debate over the constitution into an opportunity to punish the proponents of a Yes vote. Suddenly the referendum on the EU constitution became a vote of sanction against a government which has failed to restart the economy or reduce unemployment.

Two televised pleas by Mr Chirac for the Yes campaign made little difference to the opinion polls. His unpopularity is such that in one case he actually strengthened the No vote.

Last-minute intercessions by the EU Commission president, Joel Manuel Barroso, and other European leaders including Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister, Gerhard Schroeder, the German Chancellor and Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, urging the French to vote Yes were given little chance of success by commentators, who said it would be "a miracle" if France ratified the treaty.

But others believed all was not lost for the Yes camp, and the popular daily Le Parisien yesterday proclaimed in its main headline: "All is possible".

SUSAN BELL