French justice minister gives birth

Rachida Dati, the French justice minister has given birth.

The 43-year-old gave birth by caesarean early on Friday afternoon to a girl - named Zohra, after the minister's mother, Fatima-Zohra, at a hospital in the west of the French capital.

So what? You might well ask. Well, "so a lot" perhaps, because the circumstances surrounding the birth and the role of Dati in politics says a fair bit about France.

Dati, you might remember, made history here by becoming not only the first woman to hold the office of justice minister, but also by being the first person of North African descent to make it into the government.

She has created plenty of controversy during her time at the ministry "haemorrhaging" staff at an alarming rate and facing accusations of incompetence from the opposition Socialist party and certain sectors of the French media.

But one thing surrounding which there was no real controversy was her announcement at the end of last summer that she was expecting a baby.

Dati, who is unmarried, consistently refused to reveal the name of the father, saying the "situation was complicated", and much of the French media has been willing to leave it at that.

Of course the "mystery" surrounding the identity of the father has also led to some speculation - particularly among the weekly glossy magazines - with the name of a former Spanish prime minister and that of a popular French television and radio presenter being among "potential paters".

On the whole though, throughout her pregnancy, Dati's right to privacy has pretty much been respected.

It's not that often that a serving minister has given birth in office. Another notable politician was - wait for it - none other than Ségolène Royal, the defeated Socialist party candidate in the 2007 presidential election and the narrow loser of the battle to lead the party in November last year.

Back in 1992, while a minister in the government of prime minister, Pierre Bérégovoy, Royal gave birth to a daughter. Although in a long-term relationship at the time with François Hollande, Royal wasn't married either.

Back to Dati though, and her future role in government is far from being certain. She has dropped out of Sarkozy's "inner circle" of which she was so long a member, has come under constant attack from the media, and is rumoured to be the governing UMP party's preferred choice to head its push for the European parliamentary elections in June this year (in place of the junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, who has refused to run.

Should Dati, who is also currently the mayor of the VII arrondissement in Paris, accept that challenge, she would most likely be asked to step down form the government.

But that as they say, is for the moment, just speculation.

Right now though, Dati is a reportedly "proud" first-time mother, who just a few weeks before giving birth was quoted as saying "there's more to life than just politics."