Francois Fillon, a conservative reformist wins the rightwing nomination for next year’s presidential election

PARIS: Francois Fillon, a conservative reformist promising to shrink the French state, on Sunday clinched the rightwing nomination for next year’s presidential election with a resounding victory over his rival Alain Juppe.

Ex-prime minister Fillon, 62, will now become a favourite to be France’s next leader after winning the US-style primary to pick the nominee of the Republicans party and its allies.

Near-complete results showed him winning 66.5 percent of the vote, with ballots counted from 9,915 polling stations out of 10,229.

In a victory speech, the amateur rally driver said he had “torn up all the pre-written scripts” as he sped past his rivals in the last weeks of the campaign.