Lawlessness and disorder: Francois Hollande’s presidency has been a disaster

Forgive me if I sound a touch complacent at the news that Francois Hollande has fallen on his sword. In announcing on Thursday night that he won’t be seeking re-election in the spring, Holland has become the first president in the 58-year history of the Fifth Republic to make such a decision.

It was the right one. The wrong one was made by all those millions of French men and women four and a half years ago who gave Hollande their vote. I remember well the evening of 6 May. I went out for supper with a friend and on the metro home I passed through Solferino, the station closest to the Socialist HQ in Paris. Hordes of exultant young Socialists boarded the metro, intoxicated with victory, their eyes bright with triumph. They were still singing and cheering when I alighted, and the jubilation continued for days. I was a little more sceptical, writing in my diary that night: ‘It was a vote against [Nicolas] Sarkozy rather than a vote for Hollande, an affable but mediocre Socialist.