This week marks La Rentrée, the official end of the summer and start of the political year. This political year in particular will be important. With the Presidential elections in mid 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy is coming to the end of his first mandate, and at present his second one is by no means a fait [...]
Le Pen is dead, long live Le Pen! Back in March I noted that the elections to the Conseil Régional Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur would be the last time Jean-Marie Le Pen would present himself as a political candidate before retirement (here). It’s worth looking at how French fascism will cope without him. As Jean-Marie steps down [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
On Saturday I was in the town of Montpellier for a conference of Desirs D’avenir, which on the surface might appear to be a sort of think-tank like Progress or Compass, but is really code for “Supporters of Ségolène Royal”. The Parti Socialiste is not doing particularly well in Paris, mainly (though not exclusively) due to [...]
Vincent Peillon, Socialist MEP for the South-East (my neck of the woods) is in the process of gathering a coalition of the Left to present a united front. As a young politician, it’s likely that he is setting himself up as a credible candidate for the Presidency. Though he has ruled out running in 2012, [...]
French critics have been complaining about how Nicolas Sarkozy has exposed his private life so openly. After just over six months, the Président has already acquired several different nicknames; “Super-Sarko” after his hyperactivity in comparison with the reclusive Jacques Chirac, “Sarko I” after his absolutism, referring to his monarchical style, and “President Bling-Bling” after [...]
