Paris has elected its first ever female mayor.

Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo comfortably beat her centre-Right rival, former government minister Nathalie Kosciusko Morizet.

Ms Hidalgo claimed more than 50 per cent of second round votes today.

She is a 54-year-old Spanish-born civil servant and has served as deputy mayor for 13 years under outgoing Socialist Bertrand Delanoe