France's Fillon wins top spot in conservative primary, Sarkozy out

By Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - French voters defied expectations on Sunday by throwing ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy out of the race to be the conservatives' nominee for the presidential election and propelling his ex-prime minister Francois Fillon to top spot. A social conservative with economically liberal ideas, Fillon will face Alain Juppe, another ex-prime minister, in a runoff on Nov. 27 which is likely to produce France's next president in May. Long trailing his rival