Segolene-Headlines

Le Guardian estime qu’elle est « désormais favorite pour affronter Nicolas Sarkozy l’année prochaine »... « Elle est élégante, écrit le Guardian, elle est sûre d’elle, elle est ferme sur les sujets qui l’intéressent comme la famille l’école et l’environnement, et elle est judicieusement beaucoup plus vague sur le reste sur les affaires internationales et l’économie ».

Former minister favourite to mount presidential challenge to Sarkozy

She is elegant, self-assured, strong on what interests her (families, schools, the environment), sensibly vague on the rest (foreign affairs, the economy). And according to three polls this month, she could be France's first female president. (...)

The polls look unambiguous. Surveys by Louis Harris, TNS-Sofres and Ifop show that up to 53% of the French think Ms Royal, a 52-year-old mother of four, has "the stature of a president of the Republic". In two polls her ratings pipped those of the thrusting interior minister Mr Sarkozy, and in all three she finished far ahead of veteran Socialist rivals; untainted by the row over the EU constitution last year, Ms Royal has the backing of 76% of leftist sympathisers.

(She is also benefiting from the sexism of some leading Socialists. When rumours that she might run began circulating, a former prime minister, Laurent Fabius, asked "But who will look after the children?", while a senator, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, protested that presidential campaigns were "not beauty contests".)

(...)


Her detractors, of whom there are plenty in the Socialist ranks, decry her lack of experience, and pronouncements, on the key big-picture issues. But her supporters insist the electorate can no longer be bought by empty generalisations from arrogant, ageing politicians uninterested in voters' day-to-day lives. One man is impressed. "I've always said she'd be by far the most interesting Socialist candidate, worth a dozen of all the others," Mr Sarkozy said last week. "She says a lot worth listening to. I'd welcome the chance to discuss things with her next year."

French grandees face the unthinkable: a female in charge