Posts Tagged "Parti Socialiste"
David Cameron and the Collaborators
John Prescott made an extremely appropriate, intelligent and articulate comment recently. Whether he knew it or not.*
John Hutton, a former Labour minister who has been appointed as “chair of a new public sector pension commission” joining Labour MP Frank Field’s appointment as a “Povery Tzar”.
Prescott called them both “Collaborators.”
A piece on LabourList (here) did not approve of such language. Au contraire, I respond.
Prescott, not always known for his eloquence, found exactly the right word.
The first note I want to make is that the comment comes just after June 18, the 70th anniversary of the “Appel du 18 juin” where General Charles de Gaulle escaped to London and made his famous speech calling for the French to resist defeat and carry on fighting. More on that later.
Nicolas Sarkozy came over to meet David Cameron to mark the occasion, which brings me on to the French connection:
When Sarkozy was first elected in 2007 as the President of France, he tried the same tactics that Cameron is using now. In a move called ouverture he attracted a few high profile Socialists into the government. Obviously and appropriately, they were expelled from the Parti Socialiste, though that was because they became proper ministers rather than committee-type people.
Although it is in the news now, it ultimately means nothing more than a quick headline grab to cause instability in the Opposition. Popular and welcome Mr Field is in the Parliamentary Labour Party (cough), his sudden change of heart (cough cough) is no great defection.
Just as for a lesson for the future, Eric Besson (a poached-socialist) is one of the most unpopular ministers in the already unpopular French government, and intellectual magazine Le Point was forced on its front page to ask of Sarkozy the question: “Is really he SO crap?”
History is brilliant.
Update: John Prescott responded this evening via Twitter to tell me he did know it.
Things can only get better
That is that. The End.
My year abroad is officially over, as I returned to the UK on Friday.
It’s been a year of great change for me, both professionally and personally, in a time of great change in politics and society.
This explains my recent redesign.
I go back to Nice tomorrow morning to reprise my role in the Parti Socialiste, before my final year in Bath in October.
The redesign is mainly layout and branding, but it should reflect a change of focus.
So many blogs today are too cynical and miserable. Attack attack attack or, worse fact fact fact.
I think my blog has always had a european focus. That is to say, Europe, not the European Union. When I write, I try to write my “insider” perspective, having lived and worked in politics across the continent.
I’ve thus tried to use my experience to explain and inform others about the world elsewhere.
So I hope you will enjoy the new refocused blog of mine as it enters its third year of life.
Welcome “Behind Closed Doors”.
Ségolène Royal & the 2012 Presidentials
To my surprise, Ségolène Royal has, at least on the surface “put personal ambition aside to enable a united left.”
She claimed that she would not decide to stand alone, but would instead consult with the other main leaders of the Parti Socialiste in France, namely the Chief Secretary (leader) Martine Aubry and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, probably the best man for the job of taking out a gravely weakened Sarkozy in 2012.
On the one hand, I certainly hope it is true that she will not stand, as she is loved by some and hated by others. Personally I do not think she is the right candidate; she lost to Sarkozy in 2007 and her stock has not increased since then. Just looking at the Regional Election results, it becomes clear that the Socialists can take control of the presidency provided, as I have often said, that they can get their act together. For this, Royal is far too divisive.
It should thus be a simple task to choose the best candidate for taking on an, shall we say, emasculated, president. Royal is categorically not the right person as she does not command a broad enough coalition of support outside of her own cult within the PS. Aubry has had a much improved reputation in the media since the Regional success, but she just isn’t presidential material.
Imagine, if you will, a reverse of 2002; in the second round, instead of the UMP candidate and the Front National, we see a match between the Socialist and the Fascist.
Socialists sweep the Regional Elections
A massive victory for the Parti Socialiste tonight, winning 21/22 regions in France.
Sarkozy has finally made his mark on French history, it was thanks to him the Left won its highest score since the formation of the fifth republic (1958). Isn’t it beautiful?
In PACA, I’m delighted to say we won our corner. Results from France 3, because I spent the evening in their TV studio in Nice:
Michel Vauzelle (44%)
Thierry Mariani (33%).
Jean-Marie Le Pen (23%)
Abstention dropped from around 53% last week to 48,81%
President Sarkozy will meet with Prime Minister Fillion, it is presumed he will resign. I noted last week that Fillion would be the one to jump, despite that fact it is Sarkowy who has been governing. It is rather unfair considering Fillon is more popular than Sarkozy.
A longer post will follow tommorow.
French Regional Elections 2010: First results Update
Here are theresults for the First Round of the Regional Elections;
Parti Socialiste: 29.5%
UMP: 27%
Europe Ecologie: 12.5%
Front National: 11.7%
Front de Gauche: 6.2%
Modem: 4%
Extreme Gauche: 3.7%
Participation: VERY LOW around 46.5%
Conclusions:
- This is the worst score the UMP has ever had. Sarkozy was nowhere to be seen the entire night, and typically the Prime Minister, Francois Fillon was left holding the bag.
- Segolene Royal won 39% of the vote, evidently that’s amazing strong.
- The Greens have been able to secure their place as the third force in French Politics though they are a long way behind the Socialists, the orange MoDem people have been confined to the dustbin.
Now for the results in my regon of Provence Alpes Cote D’azur, which make for interesting reading:
Parti Socialiste: 26%
UMP: 26%
Front National: 20%
Europe Ecologie: 11%
Front de Gauche: 6.5%
So the PS and the UMP are neck and neck, which is amazing for the Left in an area like this. The Greens are able to go to the second round but I think it will be more likely that they fuse lists with the Socialists, likewise the FDG.
The FN have struck big here. One the one side you have Toulon, the most fascist town in the country, and then on top of it you have Jean-Marie Le Pen, a brand by himself. I think he enjoyed an emotional vote as it is the last time he’ll be a candidate.
It just goes to show there is still a lot to play for; but overall it was an excellent night for the Parti Socialiste.
Socialists set to win major victory
Tomorrow I return to France to help the Parti Socialiste in the Regional Elections on Sundays the 14th and the 22nd. I’ve written previously about the corner I’ll be fighting in Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur here and here, and more recently about the polls predicting a socialist victory here.
The lead is not restricted to PACA though, as the PS is widely expected to guard its monopoly over regional government, perhaps even taking control Alsace and Corsica as well.
Below is a map that shows the results from the previous elections in 2004, and in 1998:
Polls generally put the Socialists around two or three points ahead for the first round, and once the Greens, MoDem, and Front National parties get knocked out on Sunday, we’ll see a straightforward duel between the Parti Socialiste and the UMP.
I was generally expecting an unpleasant prognosis for the PS, as the (predicted) success is probably more despite the leadership of the party than because of it, which confirms my general perception of French Politics: decentralised campaigns for a centralised state. The PS in particular is very weak and ineffective at a national level (see the problems between Segolene Royal and Martine Aubry), yet incredibly effective at a regional and local level, there still remains many nigh-unconquerable socialist bastions.
So the PS is likely to win in spite of itself, with the real emphasis of the vote going to punish Sarkozy midway through his presidential term. His right-wing Union pour un Movement Populaire has also suffered from the disastrously explosive debate on National Identity, hijacked by far-right.
What we have seen is a huge change in media narrative. Following its paltry score of 16% in the EU Parliament elections in June, the press declared that the Parti Socialiste was now a party in terminal decline, predicting that the Greens (Les Verts) would become the new party of opposition. Instead, the storyline has reversed, and now points to a resurgence after a long period of self-reflection.
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