France, Oct. 12 -- Glucksmann, 46, a European lawmaker who leads the centre-left Place Publique party, won Sunday's primary in the first round of voting with 66 percent of the 120,787 votes cast.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure came in second with just 14 percent of the vote, and the other three candidates scored less than ten percent.

"I am the candidate who stands for a break with Macronism, the candidate who stands for a break with Jean-Luc Melenchon's hegemony over the French left, the candidate who can defeat our long-standing enemy - the far right," he told party activists after the vote.

Glucksmann, who ruled out any cooperation with Melenchon when he announced his candidacy, faces the challenge of uniting a fractured left ...