France’s new right

The result in France in the first round of the Les Républicains party’s primary elections marks the political death of one of the big beasts of French politics. Nicolas Sarkozy, widely known as ‘Sarko’, has been a volcanic presence on the public stage since he became Jacques Chirac’s minister of the interior in May 2002.

Within two years he had become president of the right-wing UMP (forerunner of Les Républicains), defeating the favoured candidate of President Chirac, and from there it was but a short step to winning the presidency of France itself. He was defeated by François Hollande in 2012 after a five-year term during which he signally failed to implement ‘la rupture’ — the programme of radical economic and social reform on which he had been elected.

Sarkozy’s political career has been marked by public insults and private feuds, most of which he has won. But his campaign for this year’s nomination started to unravel as he tried to bridge the gap between the moderate right and supporters of the Front National.