Free Republic

Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, Jean Marie Le Pen's 22-year old granddaughter has become France's youngest MP in modern political history, clinching one of two seats for the far-Right National Front – its first in a quarter of a century. Miss Maréchal-Le Pen, a law undergraduate, came top in her constituency in the southeastern Vaucluse department wtih 49.09 per cent of the vote after a rival Socialist refused to bow out to her mainstream Right rival. Her grandfather, who founded the anti-immigrant, anti-EU party and turns 84 this week, was by her side last night to toast her victory. His party won...

France's prime minister has warned Francois Hollande's girlfriend Valérie Trierweiler to "keep to her place" after she backed his former partner's rival in parliamentary elections, causing a major political headache for the President. Jean-Marc Ayrault became the highest ranking French Socialist to give the 47-year old First Lady a public dressing down for her online swipe at Ségolène Royal, 58, the mother of President François Hollande's four children. It came amid reports Mr Hollande, 57, was furious at a tweet sent out by his girlfriend wishing "good luck" to Miss Royal's rival in the western La Rochelle constituency ahead of...

France’s new first lady, Valérie Trierweiler, created a small scandal and considerable stupefaction on Tuesday when she lent her support to a party dissident who is trying to defeat Ségolène Royal — President François Hollande’s former partner of some 30 years and the mother of his four children. It seemed like a scene from Molière — or from “Macbeth” — with Mr. Hollande’s current companion breaking with his party’s position and trying to undermine her predecessor in the president’s affections. Around noon on Tuesday, Ms. Trierweiler wrote on Twitter, “Courage to Olivier Falorni, who has not been unworthy, who fights...

Just days before the second round of France’s parliamentary elections, a controversy has erupted that threatens to embarrass President Francois Hollande, whose Socialist Party is expected to coast to victory and gain a majority in the National Assembly. Hollande’s new problems arises from his complicated personal life – his current “significant other” Valerie Trierweiler (whom he has not married) supports a Socialist politician named Olivier Falorni for the parliamentary seat in La Rochelle, in western France. Hollande backs a woman named Segolene Royal. What makes this imbroglio particularly interesting is that Royal is Hollande’s former longtime lover and the mother...

Leftist candidates led the first round of France's parliamentary elections Sunday, according to polling agencies and partial official results, in a vote that is crucial to President Francois Hollande's Socialist agenda. Hollande needs leftists to take control of the lower house of parliament — currently dominated by conservatives — to carry out his plans to redirect France's economy, with repercussions around debt-laden Europe. Conservatives said the Socialists' spending plans could cripple France just as it and other European countries are being asked to rescue Spain. Based on Sunday's first round, polling agencies predict that Socialists and other leftists will take...

  François Hollande may have been elected France’s president only a month ago, but the fate of his presidency will rest largely on the results of legislative elections that begin Sunday and conclude a week later. Mr. Hollande, a Socialist, barely won over a deeply unpopular Nicolas Sarkozy, in part by remaining vague about his policies. That tactical vagueness has continued through this campaign for the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, which is to a great extent a continuation of the presidential campaign. Mr. Hollande has been presenting himself as a “normal” president, unveiling an amateurish-looking official portrait that...

Nicolas Sarkozy "laughed uncontrollably" when told Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been caught partaking in an orgy with prostitutes but swore his aides to silence and went on to name him IMF head, a new book claims. Les Strauss-Kahn, written by Raphaëlle Bacqué and Ariane Chemin, journalists at Le Monde, provides fresh details about Mr Sarkozy’s knowledge of Mr Strauss-Kahn’s sexual practices, his proximity to the Socialist and decision to protect his reputation. Mr Sarkozy was interior minister late in 2006 – a few months before his election to the presidency – when Alain Gardère, the public security chief of Paris, told...

The companion of the new French president has finally found a role for herself, but her choice is getting mixed reviews. Valérie Trierweiler, the partner and closest confidante of President François Hollande, said she wanted to continue working as a journalist, prompting some to complain about the potential conflict of interest. Ms. Trierweiler has covered political and cultural issues for Paris Match magazine for more than 20 years. Since Mr. Hollande took office, she negotiated with the magazine to continue to contribute book and art reviews and other cultural coverage a few times a month. “It’s an unprecedented situation,” Olivier...

Nicolas Sarkozy is said to be "bored" after spending a three-week post-election break with his wife and children in Morocco in which he was constantly on the phone to politicians back in France, according to reports. Mr Sarkozy, his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and their daughter Giulia, returned to Paris on Saturday, where he was spotted jogging in the Bois de Boulogne, after unwinding at King Mohammed VI's expense in one of his luxury private residences in Marrakesh. The Right-winger intends to remain "durably discreet" after losing to Socialist François Hollande in his presidential re-election bid on May 6, one of...

  With the right-wing UMP party predicted to lose upcoming parliamentary elections, former interior minister Brice Hortefeux and other French conservatives are embracing recently departed president Nicolas Sarkozy. As conservative leaders in France contemplate a likely defeat in parliamentary elections in June, some among them have rallied around an unlikely figure: defeated former president Nicolas Sarkozy.  The Friends of Nicolas Sarkozy Association was formally established in Paris on Wednesday, fuelling ongoing speculation about the uncertain future of France’s political right. Sarkozy, who lost the May 6 presidential runoff to Socialist rival François Hollande, repeated before and after the vote that he...

The French aided the Americans in their revolution against their British oppressors. Now Benoît Pous-Bertran de Balanda, the descendant of a French general who fought for the Americans, is trying to help his wealthy countrymen escape what he calls the tyranny of a new Socialist government primed to severely tax the rich. And France’s loss could be New York’s gain. Mr. Pous-Bertran de Balanda, 30, is a broker for wealthy French clients looking to buy apartments in Manhattan. With the election of the Socialist François Hollande as president this month, the wealthy in France are suddenly scrambling for places to...

'First girlfriend': Valerie Trierweiler has been given an official title and her own team of civil servants and security She declared she would not copy the high profile of her predecessor Carla Bruni. But now Valerie Trierweiler has been given an official title and her own team of half-a-dozen civil servants and bodyguards at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Despite not being married to the new president Francois Hollande, she will be known as the The First Lady of France. Ms Trierweiler, 47, a twice-married mother of three, also has her own page on the French presidency’s website. An official...

Campaigning for France's parliamentary elections officially begins Monday in what is expected to be a fierce battle between left and right. Without a majority in the lower house, President Hollande will struggle to deliver on his campaign promises. The battle to take control of France’s National Assembly begins in earnest on Monday when the four week campaign period is officially launched. The Socialist Party is hoping to follow up the presidential triumph of François Hollande by gaining a majority in France’s lower house when the elections take place over two rounds on June 10 and 17. Although poll numbers look...

Valérie Trierweiler faces an uncommon predicament. Twice married and twice divorced, she covered French politics as a journalist for more than 20 years with no inkling that she would one day become France’s first lady, certainly not when she fell for François Hollande, a jovial, unglamorous leftist politician who hardly seemed like presidential material. “I almost want to laugh when I think of it,” Ms. Trierweiler said in a telephone interview. But Mr. Hollande was elected on May 6 and was sworn in on Tuesday, and now Ms. Trierweiler — whom he calls “the love of my life” — is...

François Hollande has been sworn in as president of France, becoming the first Socialist leader in 17 years to occupy the Elysee Palace. He named close aide Jean-Marc Ayrault as his PM. Mr Hollande is now to visit Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Mr Hollande called for "a compromise" over the German-led focus on austerity as the way out of the eurozone crisis. Stock markets and the euro have fallen amid continuing political uncertainty in Greece. The handover of presidential power in France is a strange mixture of tradition and improvisation. There is tradition in the quasi-monarchical ceremonies, such as...

He  swapped her for a younger woman.  Then she tried to stop him becoming president of France. But Francois Hollande is on course to make former partner Segolene Royal the most powerful female politician in the country, despite the bitterness of their separation after 30 years and four children together.  President-elect Mr Hollande and fellow Socialist Miss Royal still have their personal differences and she does not get on with his current partner Valerie Trierweiler, a journalist 11 years her junior. Only last year, while Mr Hollande and his former partner were contesting the Socialist nomination for the presidency, Miss...

French Socialist Francois Hollande appeared headed to victory over President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to exit polls of voters released by Swiss and Belgian news media. Those polls showed Hollande with 52 to 53 percent of the vote in an election that turned on solutions for Europe's economic crisis amid record unemployment in France. French voters were still headed to cast their ballots when the exit polls were released in the early evening _ the results of exit polls cannot be published in France until voting ends at 8 p.m., 2 p.m. Eastern _ but the outcome seemed all but certain.

Nicolas Sarkozy needed a miracle last night to head off a defeat that looks increasingly inevitable. A marathon, at times violent debate with Francois Hollande was his chance to knock the challenger off his increasingly confident stride. But despite some brutal exchanges, he failed to produce a killer blow. Twenty million people were expected to tune in for a contest that lasted nearly three hours and was broadcast on all networks. It was a real debate, the presenters reduced to mute timekeepers as the candidates knocked spots off each other. There was no quarter given. Mr Sarkozy called his opponent...

Bronx judge doesn’t buy his claim of diplomatic immunity A New York hotel maid's sexual assault lawsuit against French bigwig Dominique Strauss-Kahn can go forward, a Bronx judge ruled Tuesday.   State Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon decided that the former International Monetary Fund leader is not entitled to diplomatic immunity.   He derided Strauss-Kahn's claim of international protection as the legal equivalent of a "Hail Mary" football pass.    McKeon noted that the disgraced politician didn't cite diplomatic immunity last year when faced with criminal charges for the May 2011 encounter and pointed out that Strauss-Kahn resigned from the IMF long before he...

On Saturday, Hollande’s campaign director Pierre Moscovici and communication director Manuel Valls were both invited to celebrate the birthday of Socialist lawmaker Julien Dray at a popular disco bar on Paris’ notorious Rue St Denis. What Dray had failed to mention was that DSK, as he is known in France, was also a guest at the party. Hollande’s former partner and defeated presidential candidate in 2007, Segolene Royal, was reported to be furious when she learned of DSK’s presence and stormed-off without meeting him. “It’s lucky that I didn’t find myself face-to-face with him,” she said. “I left because it...