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President Nicolas Sarkozy's camp insisted Thursday that France's election race was far from over as the top candidates sought to lure a large number of undecided and apathetic potential voters. Despite his strong and persistent lead in the opinion polls, Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande urged voters to show up for Sunday's first round, worried that a low turnout could benefit Sarkozy. "It is in these next hours that many in France will make their choice. I can see that there is still some hesitation on whether or not to go out to vote," Hollande told AFP in an interview. "My...

With just over a month to go Friday before the first round of France's presidential vote, right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is closing the gap with Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande.  As polls showed Sarkozy cutting his rival's lead after several weeks of campaigning and a swerve to the right, Hollande was also facing a new threat on his left flank from firebrand Left Front candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon. Keen to regain momentum, Hollande has made a series of promises aimed at cementing his left-wing credentials. On Thursday, during a three-hour appearance on France 2 public television, he also vowed to boost taxes...

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy yesterday took up her husband Nicolas' call to "help me succeed for France" as she attended her first ever presidential campaign rally in Marseille. The couple were not married when Mr Sarkozy faced the electorate last time round but on her debut there were chants of "Carla, Carla". The first lady smiled as the cameras zoomed in on her sitting in the front row in a black jacket and grey trousers – the chief of Sarkozy's party UMP Jean-Francois Cope and Prime Minister Francois Fillon by her side. After keeping a low profile since the birth of the...

At a rally in Marseille on Sunday, Nicolas Sarkozy launches his campaign for a second term of the presidency Nicolas Sarkozy told his first major rally in his re-election campaign that he had saved France from "catastrophe" during the financial crisis and the only way to save the country from economic meltdown was to give him a second term. The 7,000-strong meeting in Marseille marked a return to the political showmanship and verbal violence of Sarkozy's campaigning style. There was sea of tricolore flags, dramatic music, a new election slogan – "a strong France" – and a cheering Carla Bruni...

After weeks of teasing French voters, Nicolas Sarkozy fired the starting gun yesterday evening. He will, as expected, be a candidate for his job. The rest of the field is still unsettled. Marine Le Pen is having trouble securing the 500 signatures from elected officials. But we assume that, one way or another, her name will be on the ballot, along with the Socialist François Hollande, the Green Eva Joly, centrist François Bayrou, left socialist Jean-Luc Melenchon, Dominique de Villepin, and one or two representatives of the more exotic fauna of French political life. Le Pen fille is doing even...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has cut his Socialist rival's lead to the smallest margin so far in the run up to an April and May presidential election, a poll showed Sunday. However, the poll showed that Socialist candidate Francois Hollande would still comfortably beat Sarkozy in a run-off. The president has been capitalizing on his central role in Europe's struggle to contain its debt crisis, and gained ground even after announcing plans for an unpopular sales tax hike and after Hollande's campaign took a more aggressive tone. In the first round of the two-stage vote, on April 22, Hollande would...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Saturday that the country's future hung in the balance in 2012 amid the eurozone debt crisis but said ratings agencies would not decide French policy. "France's destiny could once again be tipped" in 2012, Sarkozy said in a televised New Year's address. "Emerging from the crisis, building a new model for growth, giving birth to a new Europe -- these are some of the challenges that await us." "This crisis... probably the most serious since World War II, this crisis is not over," Sarkozy said. "Yet there are reasons for hope... We must, we...

Amneville, a town in the Moselle region of northeastern France, does not look like a fault-line in the euro zone. The smell of grilled chicken wafts over the marketplace on a recent Saturday morning, the CD vendor plays German oom-pah music, and the sky behind the ochre clock tower is a steely blue. Yet the single currency is a target for an unusual politician canvassing stallholders and shoppers in this town near the German border. Fabien Engelmann, a 32-year old municipal plumber with tight-cropped hair, was an activist with France's leading trade union and a Trotskyist for many years. Later...

   A coalition of conservative parties that support Nicolas Sarkozy appeared Sunday to have lost its majority in the upper house of France's parliament, a major political setback for the president eight months ahead of next year's presidential election.   The opposition Socialist Party, together with other left-leaning movements, won a large chunk of the 170 seats in the Senate that were up for re-election, according to preliminary results. Although balloting was still under way Sunday evening in some of France's overseas territories, the left, which hasn't dominated the Senate in the past 50 years, claimed it would control at least...

Segolene Royal lost the French election and now she's kicked out her partner for infidelity. He, of course, is party leader and now, guess what, she wants his job... She was the socialist in stilettos, the woman who injected femininity, glamour and sex appeal into the French elections. And as she embarked on her ill-fated bid to become France's first woman president this spring, Segolene Royal, an alluring mother-of four, appeared as a wonderful breath of fresh air who dared to challenge the macho forces of French politics. Aside from her good looks, here was a modern woman with new...

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday night won a solid parliamentary majority to push through his reform agenda, in spite of a surprise rebound by France’s opposition Socialists who had stoked last-minute fears of the government’s tax-raising plans. The ruling centre-right UMP and its allies had a re­duced majority, with 346 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, according to Interior Ministry figures.President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday night won a solid parliamentary majority to push through his reform agenda, in spite of a surprise rebound by France’s opposition Socialists who had stoked last-minute fears of the government’s tax-raising plans. The ruling centre-right...

- The "golden couple" of the French left -- Segolene Royal and Francois Hollande -- came to an end on Sunday, weeks after the Socialists suffered a painful defeat in their presidential bid. Royal, whose hopes of becoming France's first woman president were dashed last month by Nicolas Sarkozy, confirmed what had been rumoured for some time. She said in a book to be published this week that Hollande, the leader of the Socialist Party and the father of her four children, had been having an affair and that she had asked him to leave their home. Royal, 53, met...

- President Nicolas Sarkozy's right wing party won a clear majority to carry through reforms in France's legislative election Sunday but failed to get a widely predicted landslide. The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) secured 319-329 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, 30-40 seats fewer than the old parliament, according to projections issued after polls closed in the decisive second round. Sarkozy's party had been expected to score a "blue wave" landslide after his stunning presidential election win in May. But amid a low turnout, the Socialist Party made a surprise comeback, increasing from 149 to 202-210 seats, according...

- French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked set to win a sweeping mandate for his ambitious programme of reforms Sunday, as the French went back to the polls to elect a new National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament. In the second round of the country's legislative elections, some 35 million registered voters began choosing deputies in the 467 constituencies where there was no winner in the first round a week ago. Opinions polls are unanimous in predicting Sarkozy's centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) a big victory over the Socialist Party (PS), and the only doubt is likely to...

- Campaigning drew to a close Saturday for the second round of France's parliamentary election, which is expected to deliver an overwhelming majority for President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ambitious programme of reform. A month after Sarkozy's election victory over the Socialist Segolene Royal, the country is returning to the polls to choose a new National Assembly whose five-year mandate will run concurrently with the new president's. On Sunday some 37 million voters will decide between 933 candidates in the 467 constituencies where deputies were not returned in the first round of voting on June 10. Campaigning on the broadcast...

With just three days to go before the final round in parliamentary elections, a poll on Thursday showed President Nicolas Sarkozy's rightwing party poised to win a sweeping majority. The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and its allies are expected to win between 405 and 435 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, while the leftist opposition would get between 137 and 174 seats, according to the TNS-Sofres/Unilog poll. The survey showed the UMP would strengthen its current contingent of 359 deputies, giving Sarkozy a clear mandate to enact the reforms that he promised during his campaign for the presidency....

President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged Tuesday to pursue his policy of "openness" toward the left and minorities as his rightwing party headed for a massive victory in parliamentary elections. Sarkozy urged supporters to stay mobilized to secure a strong majority in the National Assembly after his rightwing UMP party took a commanding lead in the first round of voting on Sunday. "The confidence that you have entrusted in me gives me the obligation of ensuring diversity, ensuring openness, and ensuring unity," Sarkozy said during a visit to the southern Alpes-Maritimes region. "I say to all our voters, to those who believe...

It is time for some strong medicine for American conservatives and it does not get any stronger then this: if Republicans are going to have any chance of victory in 2008, they need to learn a thing or two from the French. That’s right. The French.

France’s Socialists on Monday launched a last-ditch appeal for support from other opposition parties in an attempt to avert a crushing defeat on Sunday in the second round of parliamentary elections. Ségolène Royal, the former Socialist presidential candidate, said she would seek an alliance with François Bayrou’s centre party, the Democrat Movement. But her damage limitation exercise highlight France’s Socialists on Monday launched a last-ditch appeal for support from other opposition parties in an attempt to avert a crushing defeat on Sunday in the second round of parliamentary elections. Ségolène Royal, the former Socialist presidential candidate, said she would seek...

French conservatives were headed for a parliamentary landslide after a first round legislative election on Sunday, bolstering President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to implement wide-ranging reforms. ADVERTISEMENT A jubilant right said voters had decided to give Sarkozy the tools to carry out his pledge to boost growth, cut taxes and slash unemployment, but the left and centrists said a crushing right-wing majority was unhealthy and threatened democracy. Abstention looked set to hit a record of about 39 percent, against just 16 percent in the presidential election, reflecting deep voter fatigue after months of electioneering and a widespread feeling the centre-right was...