The party is not due to make an official announcement until Sunday, but the news of the Friday vote leaked early and several sources confirmed a clear victory for daughter Marine over the other main contender, Bruno Gollnisch.

“Marine Le Pen’s victory was very clear-cut,” said one of several party officials who confirmed her win, speaking on condition of anonymity during a party congress in the western French city of Tours.

Putting a fresh, less firebrand, face on the hard-right party has won Marine Le Pen points in opinion polls, and her popularity suggests she could eat into the ruling center-right UMP party’s vote in the spring 2012 election.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is widely expected to run for reelection next year in a tough battle against a resurgent left.

Polls rank him as one of France’s most unpopular presidents, his ratings even dipping below 30 percent in some surveys last year as even mainstream conservative voters grew tired of economic gloom, government scandals, pension reform and a perception of a flashy, unpredictable leader.

While most French people strongly oppose the National Front, the party sent tremors through the country in 2002 when founder Jean-Marie Le Pen unexpectedly reached a second-round runoff against Jacques Chirac in the presidential election.

While Le Pen failed in all five of his presidential bids over nearly 40 years, the party’s ability to win a steady 15 percent of the vote gives it an influence in political debate.

Polls show that Marine Le Pen could win 12-14 percent in a first-round presidential vote next year and that two in five UMP supporters would back some kind of party alliance.