Paris: Defeated Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon said Sunday the left had suffered a "historic drubbing" in the first round of France`s presidential election.


While vowing that the "left is not dead", Hamon, who came in fifth according to projections, urged his supporters to vote for first-placed centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7 run-off, in order to block the election of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who finished second.