Today's first round of regional elections in France looks set to end in defeat for President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Exit polls give his centre right UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populair) party just 27 percent of the votes. The Socialists appear to have won 30 percent. Other left wing parties have also done well.

Although more than 44 million citizens were eligible to cast their ballots in today's voting for 26 regional councils, turnout was approximately half that.

The elections have been seen as a test for Mr Sarkozy, who has now served half his term in office. With France currently facing an eight-percent budget deficit and an unemployment rate of more than ten percent of the working population, many French voters are disappointed in the government's economic policies. The left-wing national opposition called on voters to use the elections to punish the president.

A second round of elections will be held next Sunday, in the regions where no party gained an absolute majority in today's voting.