A pretty decisive result in the first round of the French elections. A whopping 84.5% turnout voted to put Ségo & Sarko - the candidates of the left and right respectively - through to the second round. The centrist candidate, Francois Bayrou, managed only 18%. While British parties are falling over themselves in the fight to occupy the centreground, has France opted for a more polarising election?

The Times certainly think so (Run-off for President turns into classic Right-Left duel), describing Mr Bayrou's result as:

"a blow for his attempt to forge a "third-way" revolution in French politics"

However, this doesn't tell the whole story. Bayrou still has a very important role to play in the election. Jonathan Fenby in the Guardian explains (Meeting in the Middle):

"It all hangs on whether the centrist voters who backed Bayrou in the first round will decide to vote against Sarkozy whatever their reservations about Royal"

Assuming that most of Le Pen's 11% of the vote goes to Sarkozy, it will be Bayrou's 18% that ultimately proves decisive. It seems the centreground is as important as ever in French politics.

Also in today's news:

• The Guardian is still interested in the Greg Dyke story - with columns by Dyke himself in yesterday's Observer (My Week) and David Cameron this morning (I was right about Dyke). Dyke also talks about the issue of the centreground:

"There are now three political parties battling over the centre ground and the ideological differences between them are small. The future debate in politics will not be about policy, but about delivery."

    David Cameron, in his column, defends his decision and goes on to emphasise the importance of risk-taking in politics. He also calls for "a more mature political debate" in Westminster - advice which Bruce Anderson in the Independent (Mr Cameron had a difficult week and now he turns to a reinvigorated Chancellor) could take on board as he describes Frank Dobson (perhaps accurately) as a "dunderhead".