The path to the French presidency could become clearer today when François Bayrou, the centrist who came third in the first round of voting, responds to appeals for support from the finalists, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal.

The conservative and Socialist candidates are eager for the favours of Mr Bayrou because the votes of his 7.5 million voters will be crucial in deciding the run-off for the Elysée Palace on May 6.

Mr Bayrou, 55, has played hard to get since his elimination with 18 per cent of the vote on Sunday. Mr Sarkozy, 52, the front-runner, and Ms Royal, 53, left messages on his mobile telephone on Monday, which he had still not answered last night. He replayed their pleas during dinner in a restaurant with friends on Monday night, Le Monde reported.

Mr Bayrou’s verdict, to be delivered in a Paris hotel this afternoon, is unlikely to be an overt endorsement of either Mr Sarkozy or Ms Royal, who won 31 per cent and 25 per cent respectively in the first round.

As they angled for his support, their duel heated up, with Ms Royal saying that Mr Sarkozy, if elected, would become the Silvio Berlusconi of France. The former Italian Prime Minister is not popular with left-wing sympathisers.

Mr Sarkozy produced a new weapon — Eric Besson, a senior Socialist official who defected after a row with Ms Royal in February. Mr Besson told a rally that the Socialists had set out to demonise Mr Sarkozy. “To have any hope of beating him, we had to caricature him in the hope that it would frighten people,” he said.

Ms Royal, who is fighting for credibility against an invincible-looking Mr Sarkozy, cited common ground and appealed to Mr Bayrou for partnership. “It is up to Mr Bayrou to say whether he wants this debate. It is my responsibility as a woman of the Left to give a signal to all voters who want change,” she said.

François Hollande, Ms Royal’s party leader and partner, was more blunt. The centrist should face up to his responsibilities after claiming to be the most effective anti-Sarkozy candidate in the first round, he said. “Let François Bayrou make up his mind. If you want change . . . then you have to vote for Ségolène Royal.” Julien Dray, one of Ms Royal’s senior lieutenants, attempted to call Mr Bayrou’s bluff: “Either he talks seriously now about possible alignment with us or he will be freezing 18 per cent of the national vote until the 2012 presidency.”

Aiming for Mr Bayrou’s voters, Mr Sarkozy appealed to those “who voted for other candidates in the first round and to men and women of good will” to join his right-wing camp. His lieutenants threatened dire consequences for the parliamentarians of Mr Bayrou’s Union for French Democracy if their leader fails to return to his centre-right roots.

François Fillon, Mr Sarkozy’s campaign director and likely choice as prime minister, said that their party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) would scrap alliances in the constituencies and field candidates against Mr Bayrou’s ones in June’s general elections. Mr Bayrou wants to capitalise on his new-found electoral power without being relegated to junior partnership in government. With plans for another presidential run in 2012, he could be on course to win a solid minority in parliament with a broadened UDF.

At the same time as wooing Mr Bayrou, Ms Royal yesterday courted favour with the Centre Left. She sought and received endorsement from Jacques Delors, an elder statesman of the moderate Left, and announced that Romano Prodi, the centre-left Italian Prime Minister, would attend a rally with her on Friday.

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