Conservative Jacques Chirac won a landslide victory in France's presidential election Sunday with the help of left-wing opponents who had grudgingly rallied to defeat his far-right rival.

Although the unpopular incumbent had entered the run-off vote with a slim lead over Jean-Marie Le Pen, Chirac had been projected to win a strong majority.

He ended up with 82 per cent of the vote, compared to Le Pen's 18 per cent the largest for a president in the 44-year history of France's Fifth Republic.

On Monday, Chirac appointed conservative senator Jean-Pierre Raffarin as prime minister. Raffarin, 53, is a member of the Liberal Democracy party and will serve at least until parliamentary elections next month.

Chirac drew support from voters whose candidate, Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin, was eliminated in the first round.

Some leftist voters openly showed their disgust with the two remaining candidates. Some went to the polls wearing latex gloves or with clothespins on their noses.

Voter turnout in the second round of voting was estimated at about 80 per cent. In the first round of balloting two weeks ago, a record 28 per cent of eligible voters abstained.

The upset that strengthened Le Pen's presidential hopes was described in the French media as a political earthquake.

But a broad coalition of voters from across the political spectrum came together to keep the extreme-right National Front leader out of office.

They held huge rallies in Paris and other French cities in the days leading up to the final vote to denounce his party as racist and and anti-Semitic.

Le Pen had promised to take France out of the European Union and bring back the franc, replacing the new euro, as the official currency.

He also wanted to restore border controls and cut the number of immigrants.

After claiming victory, Chirac promised to address the fear of rising crime in France, something Le Pen's camp blamed mostly on immigrants.

He also thanked voters for reaffirming their "attachment to values of the Republic."

"We have gone through a time of serious anxiety for the country," Chirac said.

His rival accepted defeat with a parting shot at the tens of thousands of people who attended demonstrations before the run-off vote.

"After a campaign of national hysteria, this was a stinging defeat for hope," Le Pen said. "It felt like running for election in a totalitarian state."