THE strong lead, of at least five points, won by France's left wing parties in the first round of parliamentary elections yesterday represents a personal triumph for the Socialist leader, Mr Lionel Jospin, little known outside France just two years ago.
If computer estimates predicting a clear left of centre lead over the government coalition prove correct, he will have upset the experts a second time, having sprung from apparently nowhere to score more than 47 per cent against Mr Jacques Chirac in the 1995 presidential election.
He is now well placed to prepare his role as the left of centre candidate in the next presidential poll, due in 2002.
The bespectacled former professor, with his shock of white curls and slightly dishevelled appearance, has seen his single minded pursuit of social democratic reforms, with the accent placed on employment, vindicated.
The second round of voting next Sunday will determine whether the left secures a parliamentary majority and whether Mr Jospin is in a position to claim the post of prime minister.
In a sharp campaign attack on President Chirac, whom he accused of "lying" in his 1995 election promises, Mr Jospin said: "Nothing would be worse than to fail to turn this corner.
"Our platform is to give jobs to the French," he said. "The wealth of the nation must be equally shared."
A survey in the sunup to the first round of voting put Mr Jospin first in the popularity polls ahead of Mr Chirac and the Prime Minister, Mr Alain Juppe.
The socialist leader had nevertheless come under attack for failing to produce a similar cultural revolution on the left to that achieved by Mr Tony Blair in Britain.
One of his problems, analysts agreed, was the electoral deal struck with the Communists, who are undergoing deep reform but who have nevertheless stayed close to their old Marxist ideals, unlike the formerly Communist PDS in Italy.
Mr Jospin, a youthful 59, is pledging extra jobs to slice postwar record 12.8 per cent unemployment, a cut in the working week without loss of pay and a new look at the Maastricht treaty criteria for European Monetary Union (EMU).
Mr Jospin said he opposed entry into EMU if it meant another austerity cure for France, and he demanded that Italy, Spain and Portugal be included in the first circle of EMU countries.
To win the confidence of an electorate disillusioned by the right and sometimes tempted by the extreme right National Front, the Socialist programme also calls for a strengthening of the welfare state.
But critics describe the Socialist platform as no more than a replay of old promises unkept and old policies unchanged.
Should the election produce a victory for the Socialists, who currently have only 63 members in the National Assembly, they would have to share power with Chirac, who is a fixture in the Elysee palace until 2002.
Originally seen as a no hoper in the 1995 presidential poll, Mr Jospin managed to restore the morale of a party in disarray after its disastrous defeat in legislative elections in March 1993 and tired out after 14 years in power under Francois Mitterrand.
The son of a Protestant socialist couple his father was a teacher of handicapped children, his mother a midwife Mr Jospin is a product of the prestigious Ecole Nationale de l'Administration (ENA) for the nation's top civil servants in Paris.
After beginning his career as a diplomat in the French foreign ministry, he joined the party in 1971 and began teaching economics at a university in the Paris region.
His rise within the party eventually led him 10 years later to become its first secretary - a position he retained for seven years until 1988, before joining the government as education minister.
Bernard Besserglik adds: The 15 per cent tally of Mr JeanMarie Le Pen's National Front (FN) means it could be in a position to maintain its candidates, or at least in a position to cut a deal with the mainstream right of centre candidate, in several seats in the second round.
In seats where no single candidate has secured 50 per cent of the vote, third or fourth placed candidates can stand if they secure the support of at least 12.5 per cent of registered voters.
The profusion of fringe parties who have presented candidates means that the outcome of the runoff poll will be harder than usual to predict and leaves third placed candidates in a strong position from which to bargain.
Serious horse trading can be expected between FN candidates who succeeded in crossing the threshold and candidates of the right of centre who need their votes to head off the challenge of the left.