PARIS, Nov 28 (AFP) - Nicolas Sarkozy, France's ambitious finance minister, moved one step closer to his dream of succeeding Jacques Chirac as French president on Sunday when the ruling conservative party formally named him its leader.

The position, which will require Sarkozy to give up his government portfolio, is widely seen as a springboard for 2007 presidential elections that Chirac may or may not contest.

A rally in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget confirmed Sarkozy's new role as chief of the Union for a Popular Movement started by Chirac.

French media have only half-jokingly called the moment a "coronation" in reference to its lavish spectacle and to the aspirations of 49-year-old Sarkozy, who is easily the country's most popular politician.

According to reports Sunday, Sarkozy won 85 percent of the ballots cast by the UMP's 120,000 members, around a quarter of whom were attending the rally in a vast trade hall decked out in the TV-friendly style of US party conventions.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin were among the ministers taking part. Chirac, though, was not present and sent his wife Bernadette instead.

During his two and a half years in government, first as interior minister then as finance minister, Sarkozy - or "Sarko" as he has been dubbed - embarked on an energetic campaign of reforms that seemed more designed to keep his profile high than to advance any underlying principles.

He has been called, in a semi-derogatory tone, "Mr America" for his dynamic approach to first cracking down on crime and then cracking down on the country's deficit while courting maximum media exposure.

But he has also brandished protectionist credentials, notably when he recently pushed France's big supermarket chains to cut grocery prices and intervened to make sure French companies did not fall under foreign control.

That blend of opportunism and populism recalls Chirac's own style, although the diminutive Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, is perceived as brasher than the current president.

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