Ségolène Royal's quest to become France's first woman head of state took a giant leap forward today when she was voted the Socialist's presidential candidate for next year's election.
Party officials said Ms Royal won 60.62 per cent of the vote in a Socialist primary ballot - a result that is likely to silence many leftist critics who had portrayed her as a lightweight populist and inexperienced campaigner.
"The fact that I have been chosen in this way is something extraordinary," said Ms Royal said.
"I want to embody change and give it credibility and legitimacy. And I think today, I have received this legitimacy," she told reporters in her western France stronghold, where she is president of the Poitou-Charentes region.
Despite a long career in politics, Ms Royal has successfully presented herself as a fresh face, strong on traditional values and ready to listen to people's concerns.
Her straight-forward language and old-fashioned glamour has gone down well with many voters who have grown tired of a generation of male leaders cast from the same elitist mould.
On the right, where Ms Royal is likely to face Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, her sweeping win did not go unnoticed, and the process of choosing a conservative candidate, originally expected in January, may be accelerated.