France’s far-right fails to win a council but increases seats in local elections

France's far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen says she was satisfied with her party's performance in local council elections, though it won just 62 of the 4,108 seats at stake.

Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party and allies took control of 66 of the 98 councils at the expense of the left, according to the Interior ministry.

In an interview Monday with radio RTL, Le Pen noted that her party won just a single seat in 2011. She said: "I obviously express my satisfaction. We have multiplied by 62 our number of elected councillors."

It's the latest in a series of elections that have expanded the National Front's presence in French politics, part of Le Pen's strategy toward a 2017 presidential campaign.