Ségolène Royal on Sunday night promised to make the second round of the presidential election a contest between her vision of “civil peace and social harmony” against the “brutalising” of “financial powers” that she suggested voters could expect from Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right frontrunner.

Ms Royal, the Socialist party candidate, finished comfortably in second place with 25.7 per cent of the vote, firmly rebutting her critics and giving her campaign a much-needed lift for what promises to be a hard-fought run-off on May 6, which will be both a clash of ideas and personalities.