Hamon more convincing in TV debate before French Socialist primary - poll | Reuters

PARIS Hardline French Socialist Benoit Hamon was seen as more convincing in a television debate on Wednesday with ex-Prime Minister Manuel Valls ahead of a runoff vote at the weekend to pick the party’s presidential candidate, an Elabe poll showed.The survey, conducted for BFM TV shortly after the debate was over, found 60 percent of those polled found Hamon more convincing compared with 37 percent for Valls.Hamon, a former education minister who was kicked out of Valls’ government in 2014 for differences on economic policy, won the first round of the party primary vote on Sunday with Valls coming in second. Regardless of who wins Sunday’s runoff, polls suggest neither stands much chance of getting past the first round of France’s April-May presidential election after five years of unpopular rule by Francois Hollande. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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