France's conservative opposition wins by-elections PARIS (Reuters) - France's opposition UMP conservative party won three by-elections on Sunday despite its own internal problems, in the latest sign of trouble for Socialist President Francois Hollande. A six-week-old row over who won a November 18 vote for the UMP leadership has plunged the opposition party into disarray, but it finally looked to be capitalizing on the government's difficulties over the weak economy. It won three by-elections, including a seat previously held by the ruling Socialist party. "These elections constitute a setback for the government which has reacted so badly to the crisis and the risk of recession and promised too much to the French people," said Francois Fillon, a popular prime minister under Hollande's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. It also looked as though a tentative deal between Fillon and contested UMP chief Jean-Francois Cope had been struck to hold a new vote for the party leadership during 2013. Approval ratings for Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault hit new lows in December, a poll showed. His administration is also struggling to stop a haemorrhage of industrial jobs while curbing public spending and raising taxes to slash debt against the backdrop of a stagnant economy. The president's backing slipped by four points to 37 percent in December, the worst rating since he became France's first Socialist president in 17 years in May, according to an IFOP poll published for weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. "They are paying for the crisis, falling purchasing power, rising unemployment..." he said. While his pugnacious, micro-managing predecessor Sarkozy led from the front, Hollande lets his ministers lead the fight, creating confusion over who runs industrial policy. Reporting By John Irish; Editing by Stephen Powell