So farewell, then, Nicolas Sarkozy. After winning just 21pc of the votes in the primary to decide the conservative candidate (and, most likely, the next French president) he has bowed in favour of François Fillon, his 62-year-old former Prime Minister, who had an unexpectedly good campaign. Just a month ago, Fillon was languishing on less than 15pc in the polls. But he performed well in the debates, surged in the polls and won 44pc of the vote. Next weekend, he will now go up against another Prime Minister, Alain Juppé, who won 28pc.
Fillion’s platform is refreshingly Thatcherite: advocating British-style spending cuts, trimming around half a million public-sector jobs (in the UK’s case, this has led to more employment as the private sector creates three jobs for every public sector job cut). ‘With our mountain of debt, we are sliding toward bankruptcy,’ he says.
With almost half of France saying that they want out of the European Union and despairing at Hollande’s rather disastrous presidency, there’s a lot of support for Marine Le Pen.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in