Bertrand Delanoe will be the next mayor of Paris

Pollster Philippe Mechet

But pollsters such as Philippe Mechet say the unexpected is about to happen.

"It is extremely strange for the French, because they didn't expect that Paris would go left - and left with somebody that they didn't even know a year ago," said Mr Mechet.

Mr Delanoe's main opponent, the Gaullist RPR party candidate Philippe Seguin, is a former social affairs minister and speaker of the national parliament.

A popular figure on the left-wing of the party, he was drafted in to help restore the levels of popularity that it enjoyed when now-French president Jacques Chirac was elected to Paris City Hall in 1977.

Jean Tiberi: tainted by Hotel de Ville scandal

But he has had his work cut out.

The problem is the deep-seated suspicion that now prevails even among traditional right-wing voters towards what they see as the "system" that was allowed to dig itself in at the Hotel de Ville over a quarter of a century.

At its crudest level, this has manifested itself in the torrent of corruption scandals that have broken over the past few years.

The created the unavoidable impression that for the RPR, control of the capital was less a public duty and more a ticket for personal and party advantage.

The scandals include:

• systematic use of bribes from building companies to finance party coffers
• a fake job scam with RPR workers paid for by city funds
• relatives of top officials getting preferential access to expensive city-owned flats
• the stuffing of electoral rolls with phantom RPR voters.

Though Mr Chirac's name has never been linked in the courts to any of these scandals, those of some of his closest supporters have.

I am in no way at all associated with any scandals, in no way at all

Paris Mayor, Jean Tiberi

Most notable was his successor as mayor of Paris, Jean Tiberi, who denies the claims but admits they have hindered him.

"I am in no way at all associated with any scandals, in no way at all," Mr Tiberi says.

"The trouble is, though, all the talk about them creates a very bad climate."

Amid all the chicanery, he was dropped by the party but is now running on a rival right-wing ticket.

Jacques Chirac became mayor of Paris in 1977

Recognising the difficulty, Seguin has tried to position himself as an outsider with no links to the ancien regime , but he is having little luck.

That is because quite apart from the corruption, there is a widespread feeling that after 24 years in power the Gaullists have simply run their course.

As the Socialist Party slogan cleverly puts it, "Changeons d'ere!" - let's change era.

Breath of fresh air

So step in Bertrand Delanoe. Until a year ago, he was a virtually unknown local councillor whose one claim to fame was that he was one of France's few avowedly gay politicians.

Now he is the standard-bearer of what will be, if the polls are correct, a historical take-over by the Socialist Party of the Hotel de Ville and its $5bn annual budget.

That such a conservative city would move that way... would demonstrate the level of rejection of the Right

Political analyst, Dominique Moisi

It would be the first time the left has controlled Paris since the popular uprising known as the Commune in 1871.

Most Parisians seem to have focused on Mr Delanoe's sexual honesty, rather than his sexuality. According to political analyst Dominique Moisi this is highly significant - socially as well as politically.

"If the city of Paris moves to the Left and to someone who has accepted to be seen as what he is, gay, it will show in some ways a deep evolution," he says.

"That such a conservative city would move that way... would demonstrate the level of rejection of the Right."