No end in sight to French centre-right fight In Paris, attempts by former French Prime Minister Alain Juppé to mediate between the two contenders for the leadership of the centre-right opposition have failed. Both Jean Francois-Copé and Francois Fillon claim to have won the election for president of the UMP. The vote was held a week ago. A spokesperson for Fillon says he now plans to take the matter to court and claims Copé refused to cooperate with the mediation. However, one of Copé"s campaign team blamed Fillon for not respecting the party's rules. Fillon says the commission investigating the debacle is not legitimate. Copé was initially declared the winner by a whisker but then uncounted votes which could swing the result were discovered. The disarray tearing at the centre-right is good news for France's other mainstream parties. It takes the heat off the under-fire Socialist government of Francois Hollande while the National Front will be hoping to capitalise on disaffection among the more hard-right members of the UMP. More about: France, French politics, Right wing party