Here’s a puzzle……

Can the leopard change its proverbials.?

Well it would appear so if Gorgeous (?!) Gordon’s new hairdon’t is anything to go by. And clearly (shout it from the mountains in honour of his Presbyterian papa) CLEARLY the PR People have had a BIG TIME fist in reshaping his image. And I read he’s having “visions” left, right and centre – although perhaps not politically speaking. Ah Thatcher’s years of misty camera lenses and Saatchi inspired campaigns might yet convince the great British public that Gordon really is a pukka bloke after all.

Meanwhile this side of the Sleeve……Is it a bird? Is it a ‘plane? Nope it’s Supersonic Sarkers. And how are his spots doing after last Sunday’s exploits?

Well he may be small…….sorry I mean short of course…….very short……Napoleonically short…..but man is he fast. All right, all right so he had a bit of a break on a “friend’s” luxury yacht just off Malta for a couple of days (headline news stuff here – polemic actually – a word I never really used or understood before coming to France – I wonder why - but it’s all over the place here a little like dispositif, which the French have for absolutely everything…..but I digress…..for a change) but really on the evidence it was a “working holiday”, giving him the chance to chew the cud and determine what next.

So what’s happening on the spots front as far as soon-to-be President S is concerned? How far down Maggie’s road is he really going as many feared? He certainly appears to be about to keep to his promise to shake things up and revolutionise the country (oh please, please). You know the title of (one of) his book(s) and election campaign was “Ensemble”. Remember while SR wanted to “bond” he wanted to “unite”. Well the that seems to be the case.

He has already said that he is going to slash the size of the cabinet from almost 30 to 10 and he is committed to half-half in terms of men and women (bit of progress on that front). He also pledged to create a super-ministry environment-transport-energy (before the election all the candidates signed a pact with a well-known tree-hugging TV presenter who then withdrew from the race, much to the relief of the Greens as he had about 10 per cent in the polls). And after grabbing much of the far Right vote he now looks set to clobber the Centre and even eat into the Left. Clever, clever man.

He is steering clear of Cronyism and is committed to giving the Top Jobs to those who are up to it. And he’s not beyond making some surprise decisions. He has the backing of a fair number of the centre-right UDF (Bayrou’s party – y’know the geezer wot got 18 per cent in the first round, said he wouldn’t vote for Sarkozy and it now about to launch his own party obviously with an eye on the next presidential election) and will probably include a couple in his government. Furthermore a former Socialist (yep that’s right SOCIALIST) foreign minister, Hubert Verdrine, was seen coming out of his “front door” after talks yesterday! How French and Saunders is that?

I shall personally be completely converted should he extend an invitation to Marie-Georges (why do so many women have men’s names here and vice-versa,) Buffet, the leader of the Communist Party.

In good journalese the feeling in the air (have you noticed how often that terms is used) is that change is on its way. What I want to know is what’s happening on the ground.

I shall undoubtedly keep you posted.