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 [...]
In the previous one, two and three parts, I have covered various opportunities that have arisen from the peculiarity of a Coalition government, argued that the Coalition will remain intact until the end of the parliament and why Labour should not try to drive a wedge between the two parties. The first trilogy was about [...]
Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, launched his new party over the weekend, République Solidaire. While everyone in Britain discusses the budget, here are some thoughts on what effect de Villepin might have on the presidential elections in 2012.
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, [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
As I sort my life out in Spain and get back into regular blogging, I’m pleased to offer this bit of continuity. On the 14th and 21st of March, elections for the Conseils Regionals all over France will take place. These will be a decisive test for French politics because, as it stands, the Parti [...]
There is a stigma that it is always the Left who will increase your taxes, as if the Right are completely incapable of doing it. In fact, right-wing UMP Mayor Christian Estrosi has made Nice the champion of all of France… for local tax increases! See the map for runners up: The tax rises he [...]
As former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is before the courts for his implication in the Affaire Clearstream (more on that next week) the former Président de la République is suddenly nowhere to be seen. I’ve been asked about the roles of the Président and the Premier Ministre in the past, but without going [...]
