….so why should anyone pay the slightest attention to your opinion? Ukip’s recent rise in popularity and the increased fervour behind talks of an EU referendum has placed the matter of the UK’s future within Europe at the forefront of the mainstream agenda. But when I read these headlines, something just doesn’t ring true. David Cameron’s claim that the people of Britain are unhappy with the relationship between Britain and…
The strategy of Olivier Ferrand and his Terra Nova think tank helped François Hollande to the French presidency. Ferrand says that the PS strategy was ‘in reaction’ to ‘Sarkozyisme‘. Of course, they had help from the left-wing press which had for many years — even before 2007 — criticised Nicolas Sarkozy non-stop. Everything about him was up for demonisation: his watches, his jogging, his links with Neuilly-sur-Seine, his choice of…
Yesterday, in a final run-up report to France’s presidential elections, RMC host Eric Brunet said that unions were holding the ‘workers’ day’ hostage. He quoted General De Gaulle’s statement from May 1, 1950, in which he said that the day should be for all workers, not just union members. 61% of Brunet’s listeners agreed with De Gaulle. Nicolas Sarkozy held his own march yesterday in support of ‘real work’. Brunet…
The fallout of the first round of the French elections rumbles on. This is a good illustration of what happens when a fringe party has the ‘power’ to help determine the outcome of a presidential election. Nicolas Sarkozy says he is ‘no one’s hostage’ — referring to Marine Le Pen and centrist François Bayrou. However, he will need some of Le Pen’s 17.9% and Bayrou’s 10% share of the votes…
Marine Le Pen emerged as the kingmaker of the first round of France’s presidential elections on Sunday, April 22. She will announce which candidate she favours on May 1, although it is unlikely to be Nicolas Sarkozy. Alternatively, she could advise abstention. It was interesting to note that over the past several months, the left-leaning media darlings in France had insisted that insecurity and immigration were low on the list…
The first round of the 2012 French presidential elections will be held on Sunday, April 22. Just as Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) has Marine Le Pen (FN) chipping away at his votes, so François Hollande (PS) has the Front de Gauche’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon. This is the first presidential contest in many years where a Communist candidate has not run. Although Mélenchon is not a Communist, his Front de Gauche party includes PCF…
Some will say, as his leftwing opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon did in November 2011, that François Hollande reminds them of a ‘pedalo captain in a storm‘. I’m not so sure. The former longtime First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (PS) and President of the General Council of Corrèze (part of the Limousin region) has had a highly successful political career spanning three decades. Even his defeats turn into victories. A…
On Sunday, April 22, the first round of the 2012 presidential elections will take place in France and its overseas territories. Two spoiler candidates have emerged to Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande: Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Front de Gauche) and Marine Le Pen (Front National). Polls show them to be relatively close — between 13% and 17% — with Mélenchon edging Le Pen. A number of French voters are still undecided. Many…
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