French voters dump Chirac's party

The socialists and their allies won 50 percent of the second-round votes, leaving Chirac's centre-right governing UMP party trailing on 36.9 percent.

The socialists held eight councils and grabbed another 12 from the UMP.

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Voters are thought to be angry at high unemployment, a stagnant economy and unpopular public sector reforms.

The centre-right has won only Alsace so far, with the results from Corsica still to come.

The election was seen as a mid-term test of opinion on the Chirac government.

Raffarin said lessons had to be learnt by the government, but "reforms must be continued, very simply because they are necessary".

The first round last Sunday saw the UMP lose heavily to the socialists and their communist and green allies.

Socialist party leader Francois Hollande says voters have expressed their rejection of both Raffarin's government and Chirac.

Our correspondent says the result is expected to lead to a major cabinet reshuffle, with Raffarin tipped as the first to lose his job.

One of the high-profile casualties already claimed by the poll is former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who lost the presidency of the Auvergne region to a socialist.

The far-right National Front confirmed its position as the country's third political force, with nearly 13 percent.