French conservatives elect hardliner as leader

Eric Ciotti has been elected the next leader of France's formerly heavyweight conservative party Les Republicains (LR) after winning the second round of party membership voting on Sunday.

Ciotti, who said he wanted to stop what he calls a "migratory invasion" of France, won 53.7% of the vote against Bruno Retailleau, a senator who scored 46.3%, LR acting chairwoman Annie Genevard said.

Party in decline

Dating back to post-WWII hero Charles de Gaulle, the LR party has had presidents from Jacques Chirac to Nicolas Sarkozy.

But its nominee, Valerie Pecresse, won just 4.78% of the votes in April's presidential election, with its grassroots support switching to either centrist President Emmanuel Macron or far-right candidates. 

However, the 62 Republican MPs play a key role in the French parliament, where Macron's minority government often needs their support to pass legislation.

Far right views on immigration

Ciotti is an MP from the southern city of Nice who is best known for his hardline views on immigration and French identity which are close to the far right's.

His program proposes to "rehabilitate the value of work, fight against violence and disorder in the streets, stop the migratory invasion and the rise of Islamism."

During a bid to become the LR presidential candidate for this year's election, he vowed to defend "Jewish-Christian" France against an "invasion" of migrants and proposed a "French Guantanamo" Bay for Islamic extremists.

dh/wd (AFP, Reuters)