Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy scored his best popularity rating in more than a year in a new poll, the latest in a series suggesting a modest rebound.
But Socialist contenders ranked far more popular than Sarkozy as France's least popular president in recent history struggles to regain public confidence less than a year before April 2012 presidential election.
The CSA poll for newspaper Les Echos was the fourth showing Sarkozy's popularity ratings on the rise since his strongest rival for election, former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested in New York on attempted rape charges.
The poll found Sarkozy had the confidence of 35 percent of those polled, up from 32 percent last month and the highest since May 2010. But 61 percent said that they did not have confidence in the conservative leader.
Socialist heavyweights extended their lead over the president with party chief Martine Aubry enjoying a positive image with 53 percent, up 11 percentage points from last month.
Aubry, the architect of France's 35-hour work-week in the late 1990s, has not said whether she is a candidate for the Socialist ticket but she is widely expected to run.
Former Socialist Party head Francois Hollande, who is a declared candidate, saw his rating rise nine percentage points to 52 percent.
The poll was carried out among 1 003 people of voting age on June 7. - Reuters