Although the French Parti Socialiste had been working hard to give voters the impression that it was hopelessly divided and anti-EU it is currently managing a bit of a Phoenix operation in the French municipal elections.
Coming so soon - less than a year - after losing the 3rd Presidential election in a row they have managed to do really well in gaining many town halls across France.
Dearest to my heart is the gain of Strasbourg again with a particularly pleasing absolute majority, but gains all over France of many cities including those that are traditionally right wing.
Bertrand Delanoe did well in his re-election in Paris and is being touted as a possible leader of the French socialists in opposition to Segolene Royal.
Last year I must admit I felt quite hopeless about the left in France - and its fragmentation and internal divisions continues to be a worry. Clearly though, Sarkozy is not proviong as popoular as people may have thought and there is a significant potential in future national elections.
Analysis aside - just the sheer joy that Strasbourg is socialist again!
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday, June 17, 2007
French results - socialists do better than expected
Today is the last day of the French legislative election.
As the Presidential election was in 2 rounds, so also is the of the Assemblee Nationale, the final round being today.
Results are predicted to give Sarkosy a very substantial majority and there are fears that the Parti Socialiste will have one of its worst historic results.
More later as the results come in.
Some analysis ahead of the results here:
Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, The Australian, Washington Times
And if you can read French an excellent analysis (with historical comparisons) in Le Monde and as well as this article.
More comment when there are some early indications of the result. Already, however, it is clear that the result will not be good for the French socialists, who will have a real job to do to reinvent themselves after the election.
Results start to come in BBC, Guardian
It now seems the Parti Socialiste is doing quite well, having gained a number of seats in the Parliament, which allows it to be a substantial opposition to the Government.
There is though a general consensus that there needs to be a process of 'rebuilding' in the Parti Socialiste, though exactly what form that takes remains to be seen, with at least a risk of a period of bitter infighting between the followers of a handful of political heavyweights.
Final results are now in
See the BBC site for the full details of the composition of the Assemblee Nationale with 07 compared to 02.
It's a little difficult to work out what's going on as the French system means there are lots of small groupings along side thw two big parties.
It seems the socialists have gained around 40 seats. The communists have lost a number of seats and therefore lose their status as a 'party group' in the Assembly.
The right wing UMP lost approx 40 seats.
Lesson - the importance of expectation management (especially difficult in a two round election). As a consequence the party that lost the election feels like it has won it as the first round predicted a wipeout for the Left and the party that actually won it feels like it's lost it...... Well that's politics for you.
As the Presidential election was in 2 rounds, so also is the of the Assemblee Nationale, the final round being today.
Results are predicted to give Sarkosy a very substantial majority and there are fears that the Parti Socialiste will have one of its worst historic results.
More later as the results come in.
Some analysis ahead of the results here:
Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, The Australian, Washington Times
And if you can read French an excellent analysis (with historical comparisons) in Le Monde and as well as this article.
More comment when there are some early indications of the result. Already, however, it is clear that the result will not be good for the French socialists, who will have a real job to do to reinvent themselves after the election.
Results start to come in BBC, Guardian
It now seems the Parti Socialiste is doing quite well, having gained a number of seats in the Parliament, which allows it to be a substantial opposition to the Government.
There is though a general consensus that there needs to be a process of 'rebuilding' in the Parti Socialiste, though exactly what form that takes remains to be seen, with at least a risk of a period of bitter infighting between the followers of a handful of political heavyweights.
Final results are now in
See the BBC site for the full details of the composition of the Assemblee Nationale with 07 compared to 02.
It's a little difficult to work out what's going on as the French system means there are lots of small groupings along side thw two big parties.
It seems the socialists have gained around 40 seats. The communists have lost a number of seats and therefore lose their status as a 'party group' in the Assembly.
The right wing UMP lost approx 40 seats.
Lesson - the importance of expectation management (especially difficult in a two round election). As a consequence the party that lost the election feels like it has won it as the first round predicted a wipeout for the Left and the party that actually won it feels like it's lost it...... Well that's politics for you.
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