Rama Yade tops French political popularity poll

In what might seem to be something of a turn up for the books, the junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, is this country's most popular political figure, according to a new poll released on Tuesday.

With a 60 per cent approval rating, the 32-year-old even beat out her immediate boss and perennial favourite among the French, the foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, to top the rankings.

The survey, carried out by Ipsos market research on behalf of the weekly news magazine, Le Point, placed Yade ahead of Kouchner and the Socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanöe, in joint second (59 per cent).

Another junior minister (for urban policy), Fadela Amara, was in fourth (56 per cent) and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (among others with 53 per cent) in fifth.

All right, all right, so these things come out with seemingly alarming regularity and perhaps shouldn't be given too much weight in the grand scheme of things.

Just last month for example, the weekly (glossy) magazine, Paris Match, published a similar survey carried out on its behalf by the Institut français d'opinion publique (French Institute of Public Opinion, IFOP) which placed the former president, Jacques Chirac in second (behind Kouchner) - 26 places ahead of his successor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

And there'll likely be another poll in March reflecting more ups and downs.

But for the moment, back to this current poll and why it could be seen as surprising.

You see, Yade has been having a pretty tough time of it politically speaking recently.

She has been somewhat sidelined in her job and has come under fire from both Kouchner and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the past couple of months.

In December for example, Kouchner said in an interview with the national daily, Le Parisien, that is had been a mistake to appoint a junior minister for human rights as "foreign policy cannot be conducted only in terms of how human rights functions".

And Sarkozy was on her case last month after she refused to stand for the European parliamentary elections scheduled for June, criticising her, if not by name then by implication, at a speech he made to the national convention of the ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP).

The two have since had a tête-à-tête (at Yade's request) and the air seems to have cleared somewhat given Sarkozy's comments towards the end of his 90-minute televised interview last week when he said of her decision, "I think she has understood that she was wrong, but I believe I can count on her talent."

In reality though the new poll probably means very little. After all it's unlikely to get Yade an immediate promotion or a financial bonus of any sort.

But all the same it might give Sarkozy some "food for thought".

Yade was, and arguably still is, the most powerful symbol of how he wanted to change the face of French politics.

Born in Senegal and with a Jewish husband who also happened to be a former member of the Socialist party, Yade was given a job created by Sarkozy as part of his promise to make human rights a pivotal point of France's foreign policy.

That might not have worked out quite as he intended (or perhaps it did) but maybe Sarkozy will be looking at those polls when it comes to a meaningful reshuffle later this year.

If the European elections go as expected he'll have to replace two front-line cabinet ministers - Michel Barnier at agriculture and Rachida Dati at justice.

Perhaps there'll be room made for Yade somewhere (else).

Pure speculation of course, but worth keeping an eye on.

For the record - as you're doubtless dying to know, Sarkozy is once again dropping in the popularity stakes.

According to the same Ipsos poll, he had an approval rating of 36 per cent - nine points down on last month and perhaps not especially good news after his "reassuring" interview last week.

Ah polls - perhaps to paraphrase from "Winnie the Pooh",

"The wonderful thing about polls is that polls are wonderful things.Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs"

"..................but the most wonderful thing about any poll is that it's not the only one."