François Fillon crushed Alain Juppé on Sunday night in the second round of voting for the presidential nomination for France’s main conservative party. Having knocked Nicolas Sarkozy out of the race last weekend, the 62-year-old Fillon won 66.5 percent of the vote in yesterday’s run-off against the more moderate Juppé.
It’s a devastating blow for Juppé who, until a fortnight ago, was the clear favourite to represent the Républicains party in the spring election. There may have been a touch of complacency in Juppé’s campaigning, such was the feedback from the polls, which suggested he had an unassailable lead throughout the early autumn. What did for him ultimately, though, was Fillon’s tougher and more conservative approach.
For too long over the summer Juppé prattled on about his idea of creating a ‘happy identity’ for France, seemingly oblivious to the reality of what life is like today for all but the gilded elite.
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