Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, is enjoying a clear lead against the Socialist party's candidate Segolene Royal after Wednesday's televised debate, latest polls showed Friday.

The Ipsos/Dell poll showed 54 percent of voters preferred Sarkozy, a one-percentage point rise from a survey published a day earlier by the Opinionway agency.

Royal, however, was expected to have 46 percent of the vote.

The debate, organized Wednesday by TF1 and France 2, two of the leading French television channels, was also broadcast live by at least nine other French television stations, as well as via the internet, some radio channels and several foreign news channels.

The candidates tackled numerous themes such as debt, security, public sector reforms, employment, housing, taxation, education and Europe.

Experts reckon that about 20 million people watched the debate.

Centrist leader Francois Bayrou, who ranked the third in the first round of voting on April 22, implied after the debate that he would not vote for Sarkozy.

Bayrou has the backing of nearly 7 million voters, support which is highly coveted by both Sarkozy and Royal.

Source: Xinhua