Gains made by the left in the first round were described by Socialists and even right-wing commentators as a 'warning' from disappointed voters to France President Nicolas Sarkozy (above). -- PHOTO: REUTERS

The Socialists won re-election in France's third city of Lyon in a first round of voting last Sunday and were on course for victory in Paris, which they took from the right in 2001.

But the second city of Marseille was shaping up as the big prize, with the incumbent right-wing mayor holding a slight lead over his Socialist rival.

A poll published on Friday in the Parisien newspaper showed Sarkozy's camp would win Marseille by a whisker but lose Toulouse, the fourth largest city, which has been run by the right for 37 years.

The elections are the first major test of Mr Sarkozy's popularity since his election 10 months ago on a platform that called for sweeping economic and social reforms.

Tumbling in the public opinion polls, Mr Sarkozy has signalled that the election results will probably lead to some adjustments but no radical shift away from his drive to reform France.

'The people will have spoken. I will naturally take into account what they expressed,' said Mr Sarkozy this week during a trip to the Mediterranean city of Toulon where he spoke about immigration control, one of his signature themes.

A presidential aide said on Friday that Mr Sarkozy would make 'minor adjustments' in the days following the vote, revamping his communications team and possibly appointing new faces to junior posts in government.

Over the past three months, Mr Sarkozy has been struggling to halt a free fall in public opinion polls that saw his approval rating reach a low of 38 per cent in recent weeks.

Pollsters attribute the drop to pessimism about the economy coupled with perceptions that the president is distracted by his personal life, after his divorce from second wife Cecilia and marriage to supermodel and singer Carla Bruni.

Gains made by the left in the first round were described by Socialists and even right-wing commentators as a 'warning' from disappointed voters to Mr Sarkozy.

But leaders of the governing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) had rejected suggestions that the results were a rebuke of his policies.

Both the UMP and the Socialists have reached out to centrists for alliances ahead of Sunday's vote in which the left has called on voters to 'punish' the government at the ballot box.

Last Sunday, the Socialists and their allies took at least seven smaller cities from the right including Rouen in Normandy and the northern town of Dieppe and were well-placed to win Strasbourg in the east.

In Marseille, ruled by the right since 1995, the Socialists won 39 per cent of the vote, just behind the UMP's score of 41 per cent, and have cut a deal with the centrist Democratic Movement (Modem) for backing.

Modem garnered six percent, although turnout was low in the first round in Marseille.

Socialist Segolene Royal, who lost to Mr Sarkozy in the May presidential polls, has said the result in the first round amounted to a 'vote of censure' and called for a large turnout for Sunday.

'A penalty from the municipal elections would not tarnish the legitimacy of the president,' commented political analyst Alain Duhamel.

'But it incites, invites and presses the head of state to take action, to rectify his stance, in short, to show that he is a realist,' he said.

Nationwide, left-wing parties won 47 per cent of the vote compared with 45 per cent for the right, according to interior ministry results compiled for the first round.

In all, 23 ministers from the rightwing government ran for local office, with 14 elected in the first round. -- AFP