Hollande Wins French Election

Socialist Francois Hollande has won the French election. He beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy with 50.8% of the votes. Sarkozy took 49.2%, clearly a closer race than the French and international press had previously suggested.

Segolene Royal, who lost to Sarkozy in the 2007 election, and is the mother of Hollande's four children, said that she has a "feeling of profound joy to see millions and millions of French renew the tie to the left. The French can be confident. We will need everyone to help the country recover."

Hollande has pledged to greatly increase government spending, despite the country's huge debts. He also plans to increase the size of the government, promoting more control over the country's infrastructure. His plans also include the down sizing of the French military, and pulling it out of foreign commitments.