France’s opposition Socialist party last night sought to end a vicious leadership war by anointing Martine Aubry, a former Labour Minister, as its chief and dimissing protests from her rival, Ségolène Royal.

Ms Aubry, 58, who is Mayor of Lille and was the architect of France’s 35-hour working week, was finally confirmed as the victor of a close-run membership vote that had triggered a mutiny by Ms Royal, the runner-up in last year’s presidential election.

Ms Royal, 55, appeared to soften her earlier rejection of the outcome, calling for the party to “unite and regroup” but her lieutenants vowed to fight on in what has been dubbed “battle of the desparate housewives”.

Ms Royal, who is President of the western Poitou-Charentes region, was told by the party’s National Council that, after a recount, Ms Aubry had won by a margin of 102 votes in the run-off last Friday. A total of 135,000 members voted.

Ms Aubry held out an olive branch to the woman who is seen by party elders as a usurper. “The conditions in which the vote took place and its close nature gives me a big duties,” she said. “My first task, if she accepts, is to meet Ségolène and tell her that I, like her, have heard the message from the members. We want a Socialist party that does not flinch from the fight.” However it was clear that the battle was not over. Ms Royal’s camp insisted that they would fight the party in the courts over what they said was a fraudulent vote.

Jean-Louis Bianco, one of her chief allies, demanded a new vote, as did her laywer Jean-Pierre Mignard. Hours before the party decision, Ms Royal said: “There are thousands of contested votes. I really don’t see how we can avoid going back to the voters.” Neutral figures in the party called on the two women to proclaim a truce and work together. “We must stop this totally ridiculous soap opera,” said Jean-Marc Ayrault, the party’s parliamentary leader. “Whoever leads the Socialist Party tomorrow will not be able to do so without the others.”

Neutral figures in the party called on the two women to proclaim a truce and work together. “We must stop this totally ridiculous soap opera,” said Jean-Marc Ayrault, the party’s parliamentary leader. “Whoever leads the Socialist Party tomorrow will not be able to do so without the others.”

Ms Aubry’s appointment was a victory for a motley coalition of old-guard figures who fought what they saw as an attempt by a charismatic but unstable outsider to hijack the party and turn it into a personal fan club. Ms Aubry, who is the first woman to head one of France’s main political parties, is a low-key performer committed to old-style leftwing policies. She is moderately popular and a tough manager who earned the nickname Dame de Fer (Iron Lady).

Ms Aubry, who is the daughter of Jacques Delors, the former head of the EU Commission, has promised to keep the party “solidly anchored on the left”. A shift to the centre would alienate traditional voters at a time when the financial crisis has revived leftist state-driven economics, she said.

Ms Royal had cast herself as victim of a conspiracy and vowed to take the party to court for electoral fraud after Ms Aubry was initially declared to have won by only 42 votes. Ms Royal has been striving to take over the party since Nicolas Sarkozy defeated her in last year’s presidential election.

The decision by a party Council that is dominated by the old guard left the opposition split down the middle and wounded by an extraordinary battle of egos that has exasperated its followers and amused the rest of the country.

Adding to the bitterness, Ms Royal was opposed by François Hollande, the outgoing leader, her estranged domestic partner and the father of their four children. Bowing out from ofice last night, Mr Hollande called for an all-out effort to heal the damage that has been inflicted since a disastrous party congress 10 days ago. “The party has a huge need to find its way again,” he said.

Some former members predicted that the party, one of the last in Europe to hew to Marxist-style doctrines, would not recover from the split between the “Saint Ségolène” camp and the old-style leaders behind Ms Aubry.

Others noted that the party has weathered other storms since it was relaunched under the command of the late François Mitterrand in 1971. The Socialists are a minority in parliament but they remain a formidable machine at the local level, controlling 21 of France’s 22 regional councils and also most big cities, including Paris, Lyons and Toulouse.

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