Gingrich wins South Carolina primary

Newt Gingrich netted a convincing victory over Mitt Romney in South Carolina's primary election, the latest leg in the battle to be the Republican candidate in November's US presidential poll.

With 95% of the vote counted, Gingrich had 41% to Romney's 27%. The result opened the way for a potentially contentious battle within the Republican party between the establishment and insurgent wings of the party.

Romney was widely seen as the frontrunner, but the latest outcome is set to turn the race into a long, hard-fought campaign.

The South Carolina victor has won the Republican nomination in each election since 1980.

Other Republican hopefuls, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Texas representative Ron Paul are trailing badly, with 17% and 13% respectively.

Exit polls showed that South Carolina's conservative electorate did not embrace Mr. Romney's arguments that he is best suited to revive the economy and to defeat President Barack Obama.

Gingrich's resounding victory in South Carolina has scrambled the Republican nomination race and ended the prospects that the party would consolidate quickly around a nominee.