Centre-right leads EU speaker race in first vote

European Parliament's presidential candidate Antonio Tajani attends the presentation of the candidates for the election to the office of the President at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Italian conservative Antonio Tajani maintained a strong lead in Tuesday's second round of voting for speaker of the European Parliament following a coalition deal with the liberals, official returns showed.

Tajani won 287 of the 691 votes cast, keeping his lead over centre-left candidate and fellow Italian Gianni Pittella who had 200. Four other candidates had scores between 42 and 66.