Sarkozy the next generation - it's a boy

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has become a grand-father for the first time.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning Jessica, the wife of Sarkozy's second son, Jean, gave birth to a baby boy, according to the Internet site, Purepeople, which was the first to break the news.

Although there hasn't yet been an official statement from the Elysée palace, the president's office, the news has been confirmed by Patrick Balkany, a close friend of the family and the mayor of the Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret, who told reporters (in that time-honoured tradition) that "both mother and baby were doing well."

The latest arrival to the Sarkozy family has might have some large footprints in which to tread but his will surely be a future cushioned by the fact that it'll be financially secure and potentially glowing.

His grandfather (who turns 55 at the end of this month) is of course president, and at 23 years of age his father is already an up-and-coming (already-arrived) member of the country's governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party as a regional councillor in Hauts-de-Seine.

And that's not forgetting his mother, who just happens to be an heiress to the big electronics company Darty.

All factors undoubtedly which have meant that, in this era in which politicians have achieved near celebrity status here in France, the Net has awash with surfers speculating none-too-seriously (perhaps) over what'll be in store for the baby.

"Nicolas Sarkozy's grandson has been appointed general manager of his future nursery," runs one tweet for example, a reference to his father's recent controversial candidature (later withdrawn) for the top job at l'Etablissement public d'aménagement du quartier d'affaires de la Défense (Epad), the development agency for business district of La Defense on the outskirts of Paris.

As for what the baby will be called - well there's no word on that yet. But a source close the president (yes it's that sort of story) has reportedly said that it'll be a "very unusual" name.

"Epad" suggested one wit in Twitter.

French polls: Rama Yade's popularity and Sarkozy's poor showing

Another week another poll or at least so it seems here as the French have been asked yet again to name their most popular political figure.

And topping the list is none other than the junior minister for sports, Rama Yade.

The poll comes courtesy of the weekly news magazine, Le Point.

Once a month it publishes its ranking according to a survey conducted on its behalf by Ispos "to measure the popularity of the major players in the political arena".

In the latest poll, Yade has a 61 per cent approval rating. Just behind her is the Socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, (59 per cent) and in third place another Socialist politician in the shape the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (54 per cent).

All right so opinion polls are open to interpretation and they are perhaps just snapshots, if you will, of current popular opinion rather than giving the full picture.

But Yade's obvious and sustained popularity must be giving her bosses the proverbial food for thought especially as it's the fourth month in a row that the Ipsos-Le Point poll has had her topping the list.

It almost seems as though Yade's popularity among the public increases as often as, and in parallel to, the criticism she receives from government and her centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party colleagues for refusing to toe the line or be a team player as in the recent example of her opposition to a government policy to abolish tax breaks for sportsmen and women.

As the French media puts it, "The more she is the target of criticism, the more popular she is."

One dark cloud perhaps for the 32-year-old is that her popularity among supporters of the UMP party is apparently on the decline.

So Yade on the up and up - or at least enjoying a high level of support among the general French population - but what of her big boss the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy?

Well, the latest poll appears to confirm the slump in his approval ratings over the last month at just 39 per cent.

But the news probably won't come as too much of a surprise to him.

After all just last week in another poll carried out this time by Ifop on behalf of the weekly news and celebrity lifestyle magazine, Paris Match, only 39 per cent of those questioned thought he was doing a good job, compared to 45 per cent at the end of September.

And the French president, who reached the mid-point of his five-year mandate last week also admitted in an interview that he had made a number of mistakes during his presidency.

They included his highly criticised break just after his election aboard the yacht of his millionaire friend Vincent Bolloré, which he conceded had been an "error of taste", the choice of Patrick Devedjian to head the UMP party in 2007 and most recently support for the candidature (now withdrawn) of his second son, Jean, for the top job at l'Etablissement public d'aménagement du quartier d'affaires de la Défense (Epad), the development agency for business district of La Defense on the outskirts of Paris.

It wasn't the first time during his tenure that Sarkozy has acknowledged mistakes or publicly expressed his "mea culpa".

And perhaps the more humble approach will see an improvement in his approval ratings when the next slew of opinion polls, of which the French media seems to be so fond, are published.

Watch this space.

Rama Yade under fire - again

It hasn't been an easy time recently for France's junior minister for sports, Rama Yade, who is trouble again.

This time around it's over her opposition to the government's plan to abolish the droit à l'image collective (DIC) des sportifs professionnels: a tax break if you will, which currently saves rugby and football clubs in particular millions of euros each year as up to 30 per cent of a player's income can be treated as "image rights".

Yade has refused to toe the line, warning that the change would be "dangerous for the competitive status of French sport".

This latest clash comes just a couple of weeks after she broke ranks with the rest of the government by expressing disquiet publicly over the proposed nomination (later withdrawn) of the French president Nicolas Sarkozy's second son, Jean, to head Epad, the development agency for business district of La Defense on the outskirts of Paris.

The reaction, and in particular criticism of Yade from her own party, the ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) , over her opposition to the DIC amendment, has been swift.

"(Rama Yade) has failed to show solidarity within the government," the prime minister, François Fillon, said on Tuesday.

"I have told her that the consequences will have to be faced."

Those consequences could see Yade losing her job entirely.

Already there have been rumblings from the Elysée palace (Sarkozy's office) that she doesn't "know how to be a team player" and that there will more than likely be another government reshuffle after next year's regional elections in March.

Oh yes - and therein lies another issue.

The UMP party wants Yade to contest the Val-d'Oise département in the Ile de France region surrounding the French capital.

But Yade is resisting the pressure saying she doesn't want to be perceived as an "ethnic parachute" and would prefer to stand in another Ile de France département, that of Hauts-de-Seine, where she is already a local representative.

Yade of course is no stranger to controversy.

Indeed during her time as junior minister for human rights from June 2007 until summer this year she almost seemed to court it, often at loggerheads with government colleagues and in particular Sarkozy.

She had more than a few run-ins with her big boss and was frequently been hauled in for private ticking-offs such as during the visit of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to this country in December 2007 for example, when Yade spoke out in public and criticised the Libyan leader's human rights record.

Yade was also the object of a more public dressing down when she refused to stand for election to the European parliament, preferring to concentrate on he domestic political career.

In June this year of course things came to a head. The position she had previously held was scrapped entirely and Yade became junior minister for sports: a post widely interpreted as a demotion and a way of keeping her quiet but not getting rid of her entirely.

The thinking perhaps was that while keeping her in government, after all she regularly ranks in opinion polls as one of the country's most popular figures, there was little she could do from such a position to draw attention to herself!

The debate over Jean Sarkozy's new job continues

Reactions are coming thick and fast to the news last week that Jean Sarkozy, the son of the French president, is in line for a top job at l'Etablissement public d'aménagement du quartier d'affaires de la Défense (Epad), the development agency for business district of La Defense on the outskirts of Paris.

The media has gone into a near frenzy reporting the different responses there have been since the retiring incumbent, Patrick Devedjian, made the announcement.

Politicians from the opposition Socialist party have criticised the nomination, as have some from the right of the political spectrum.

And an online petition has already gathered 40,000 signatures calling for him not to accept the job.

The main sticking points seem to be his age - Sarkozy is just 23 - his (lack of) experience and of course the fact that he's the son of the French president.

"We need someone (in the post) who has a good grasp of the law," said the former Socialist party prime minister Laurent Fabius, more than a little ironically.

"Mr Sarkozy is in his second year (at University) studying law, which is obviously a very strong argument in his favour!"

There are of course also the thinly-disguised inferences of nepotism and the fact that carrying the same name as the French president has helped Sarkozy's rise politically at such a young age.

"Who wouldn't be shocked by the way in which this has been done?" said the Socialist party's 2007 presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal.

"If he didn't have the name he has, would he be where he is today?"

Meanwhile members of the ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) of which Sarkozy is a member have come to his defence, saying that the whole political polemic (of which the French seem often seem so fond) and especially the accusations that Sarkozy is benefitting from being the "son of" is nothing more than an attack whipped up by the Left.

"It's an election, a competition and there's no need to create such a polemic," the prime minister, François Fillon, said on national radio on Monday morning referring to the fact that Sarkozy is also an elected local councillor in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine where his father was once mayor.

"What matters is to have been elected at the ballot box as we've also seen for the son of François Mitterrand (Gilbert) or the daughter of Jacques Delors (Martine Aubry)," he added.

Not everyone to the right of the political spectrum in France agrees though.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, head of Debout la République (Arise the Republic, DLR) thinks the appointment is a mistake and sends out the wrong message to the public at large.

"It's unacceptable that a son of the French president, no matter what his qualities, should head up one of Europe's major business districts which is bound to see the construction of more office space," he said.

"And of course we have to question his ability as a 23-year-old student to occupy such a position".

And what of the main protagonist in all of this?

Well until now he had remained silent on the subject. But on Tuesday he told the national daily Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France that he felt more than capable of doing the job and had quickly become used to the dealing with any opposition.

"Ever since I started in politics I've been the object of criticism," he said.

"But I'm very determined very motivated and I just see all the attacks the Left are trying to launch my way," he added.

"Whatever I do, I'll be criticised."

Sarkozy taking action - legal action

It has been a busy almost 18 months for the lawyers of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the past month has been especially hectic.

As the latest edition of the weekly news magazine "L'Express" points out, Sarkozy has resorted to French justice to pursue civil suits more than any other president in the history of the country's Fifth Republic.

It had been 30 years since an incumbent president had last brought a civil suit legal action, but in the space of less than 18 months, Sarkozy has well and truly bucked the trend in taking or threatening legal proceedings six times.

Some would argue that at least a couple of the suits have had a basis, such as the recent ones involving hacking into his private bank account - for which two people where taken in for questioning on Tuesday - or action he has taken against allegations made by a former head of French intelligence (more on that in a moment). But others - and remember there have been four more - have raised a few eyebrows.

Of those six, three have come in just the last month, and without passing judgement on the relative merits of each case, L'Express listed them all, pointing out that Sarkozy had now "accumulated a number of legal actions making him the "most plaintiff president of the Fifth Republic."

Here's a whistle stop tour of what Sarkozy's lawyers have been up to while he's been running the country, trying to fix the world's economy and, as France currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, bashing Europe into shape by trying to persuade countries unwilling, that institutional reform in the shape of the Lisbon Treaty, is an absolute must.

The most recent case of course was just last week when he instructed his lawyers to take out a law suit against the former head of the French intelligence service, Yves Bertrand, following the publication of diaries which included "unsubstantiated allegations" about a number of politicians - among them Sarkozy.

But that wasn't the only threat of action last week. There was also the affair of the "Voodoo dolls."

They come as part of a kit; complete with 12 needles and an instruction manual that quite literally invites the user to "pinpoint" exactly which elements of Sarkozy's policies or character they dislike most. His friendship with a comedian of dubious taste? Apparent "respect" for actor and Scientologist Tom Cruise? The end of advertising on public television? If you don't like one or many of the "traits" written on the effigy of Sarkozy, you stick the needle in the appropriate place.

There's also a similar doll for the defeated candidate in last year's presidential election, Ségolène Royal.

Certainly not of the greatest taste, but offensive enough to Sarkozy and his advisors to have him instruct his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, to whip off a letter to the distributors to have the doll withdrawn or risk legal action for "misuse of the president's image".

And in May there was the "T-shirt incident", when the president's lawyers demanded a company withdraw T-shirts emblazoned with "Sarkozy" with the "o" in his name transformed into a target with the slogan beneath it "zero tolerance - 50 points." An affront to the office of the president? A slight against the man and his policies? The case is still ongoing.

In February Sarkozy - and his not yet third wife Carla - took low cost airline Ryanair to court for the unauthorised use of a photograph of the couple in an advertisement. They later won the case, Sarkozy receiving the symbolic sum of €1 and Bruni-Sarkozy being paid €60,000 in damages.

And of course few here in France will forget the furore surrounding the text message he reportedly sent to his former wife, Cécilia, shortly before marrying Bruni-Sarkozy.

"If you return, I'll cancel everything" - ran an sms apparently never sent and therefore never received, but which caused a brouhaha both at home and abroad when it was reported on the website of the weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur.

Sarkozy immediately slapped a law suit on the magazine - which could have brought with it three years in prison and a €45,000 fine. But matters were "sorted" an apology apparently made (by the magazine) and Sarkozy's complaint withdrawn.

Of course Sarkozy isn't the only member of his family to have been "involved with the law" over the past 18 months,

His second son, Jean and his new wife, Jessica Sebaoun, have recently started proceedings against a number of magazines for "invasion of privacy" when they snapped shots of the couple shortly after their very private marriage.

And Jean's alleged involvement in a hit-and-run scooter incident from 2005 has only just been dropped - on the recommendation of the public prosecutor.

Sarkozy is often portrayed at both at home and abroad as the most "American" of French presidents, and for much of the first few months after coming to power in May 2007, he certainly seemed more than to embrace that image.

On recent evidence he seems to have taken it one step further with a pattern of behaviour that might perhaps be more widely characterised as being "typically American" namely suing or at least regularly launching the threat of legals proceedings.

Perhaps the conclusion is that if the past 18 months of Sarkozy's time in office are anything to go by, then the rest of his tenure could well be a busy one - at least for the family's lawyers.

Jean Sarkozy sues for "invasion of privacy"

It's a case that raises the problem of how far the media has the right to pry into the private lives of public people. And the issue is rearing its head once again here in France - with a Sarkozy at the centre of legal action.

No, not the president, Nicolas, but the younger of his two grown up sons from his first marriage, Jean.

He's suing two of the country's weekly magazines specialising in celebrity news "Voici" and "VSD" and there's a fair chance that there will be more law suits to follow.

Sarkozy is upset at the publication of photographs published in both magazines taken without his consent at his recent marriage to Jessica Sebaoun.

And on his political blog the 22-year-old also puts the record straight about some "facts" that have appeared in the French media lately - and especially celebrity news magazines.

"As you can probably tell recently there have been stories based on rumours concerning my private life," he writes.

"I have never agreed to give any interview (on the subject) nor given my consent to the use of the photographs.

"All I have done is to simply deny - officially - the desire that I have supposedly expressed to want to convert to Judaism."

Those reports began circulating after it was suggested by a French cartoonist that Sarkozy was about to convert. His wife, Jessica is Jewish and the daughter of the heiress to the large electronics retail company, Darty.

Photographs of the couple were taken after their marriage on September 10 and published in this week's edition of "Voici" and republished in other magazines.

Speaking to AFP, Sebaoun's lawyer Bruno Illouz said that the pictures had been taken without the couple's consent.

"There are public places that become private under certain circumstances and especially when access is reserved ," he said.

"This was a private ceremony and photographs were not supposed to be taken for publication."

Defending itself, an editor in charge of the two magazines maintained that they had been well within their rights to publish.

"It's a journalistic subject because all the media was talking about it," Philippe Labi told AFP.

"We have done our job in the most professional and calm way possible without any aggression."

Part of the problem here in France is that although privacy laws are in theory very strict, there have been many cases of the line being blurred.

Weekly celebrity news magazines have over the years often published stories and photographs of "stars" and when sued, simply coughed up the fine.

Since (Nicolas) Sarkozy came to office in May last year, politicians have increasingly been subjected to that celebrity status, none more so perhaps than the French president himself.

His divorce from Cécilia and whirlwind romance and subsequent marriage to Carla, was the stuff guaranteed to increase magazine circulation figures both at home and abroad.

This latest case involving a Sarkozy and the law is far from being an isolated one. Over the past few months the family has been no stranger to legal action.

In June, the Paris public prosecutor recommended charges be dropped against Jean in the case of a hit-and-run scooter incident.

And in February his father and the first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, won damages against the low-cost airline, Ryanair, for the unauthorised use of a photograph of the couple in an advertisement.

No date has yet been fixed for a hearing over this latest action but Sarkozy and his wife are reported to be seeking damages of €30,000, and if they win their case the money would be donated to charity.

The 22-year-old is the second son from the French president's first marriage and has already carved out something of a name for himself in local politics.

He won a seat on the regional council of Haut-de-Seine in March in June and was elected president of the centre-right grouping of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party - Nouveau Centre in the same regional council.

Public prosecutor recommends dropping (Jean) Sarkozy charges

The mysterious if somewhat exhausting case of the hit-and-run scooter and the role of the French president's son, Jean Sarkozy, could be nearing its conclusion.

A Paris prosecutor has recommended dropping charges against him, but a final decision won't be handed down until September.

The incident dates back to October 2005, when Mohammed Bellouti claimed that a scooter ran into the back of his BMW in the centre of Paris, damaging his rear bumper and driving away without stopping.

Bellouti apparently had the presence of mind to note down the licence number and reported it to the police. But when 10 months later they still hadn't traced the owner, Bellouti's insurance company took matters in hand and discovered the scooter belonged to Jean Sarkozy.

When he failed to respond to several of their letters, Bellouti took the case to court seeking€260 to cover the cost of the repairs and €4,000 in damages for the delay in settling his claim.

He maintained that Sarkozy had received preferential treatment and that the justice system and the police had been lenient in following up the case. At the time Sarkozy's father, Nicolas, was minister of the interior.

Appearing before the public prosecutor on Wednesday, the president's second son pleaded his innocence, although he could offer no explanation as to how Bellouti had been able to take the registration details of his scooter.

"I have never been involved in any sort of road traffic incident of any kind, " he said.

"If I had been the cause of an accident of course I would have stopped because that's my nature.

"I was insured and would have had no reason not to stop."

In good legalese speak, an independent expert called in for analysis concluded that the damage caused was "incompatible" with any impact there could have been between the car and a scooter similar to the one owned by Sarkozy.

Lawyers for the defendant maintained that the incident had never happened and Bellouti was trying to get insurance coverage for other accidents.

The story isn't quite over yet in spite of the prosecutor's recommendation. Judges will give a final ruling on the case at the end of September.

Ah yes the wheels of justice can grind very slowly at the best of times here in France but in this case they seemed to have moved at an almost pedestrian pace, at least certainly as far as Bellouti is concerned.

In case you thought there was nothing else to be revealed about the scooter - think again. It seems to have something of life all of its own.

After allegedly being involved in the 2005 incident, it was back in the news last year when it was stolen.

Police launched a detailed investigation - including using DNA tests - and within 10 days they had tracked down the thief. By this time of course, Sarkozy's father was president.

The 21-year-old Sarkozy is the second son from the French president's first marriage and has already carved out something of a name for himself in local politics.

He won a seat on the regional council of Haut-de-Seine in March and earlier this month was elected president of the centre-right grouping of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party - Nouveau Centre in the same regional council.

In his father's footsteps

It's hard not to jump to the conclusion that Jean, the 21-year-old second son of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is being groomed for success and higher political office.

He was a key player in the mess that quickly became a political soap opera during the local elections to find a mayor for the swish Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine in March.

Now he has been rewarded, of sorts, with the job of bringing peace and calm to his father's ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party in the town.

And that's exactly what's needed since the party attempted to rip itself apart in what has traditionally been one of its strongholds. Neully-sur-Seine has more than 4,000 registered party members - not bad going in a town with a population of just about 60,000. And it was for a long time the personal fiefdom of the current president, where he was mayor from 1983-2002.

The troubles started when Sarkozy Snr parachuted in his (now former) presidential spokesman, David Martinon, as the party's candidate for the mayoral vacancy that was up for grabs in March. But when it became clear that he would probably lose out to another independent centre-right contender, Jean-Christophe Fromantin, the local party led by Sarkozy Jnr and his father's long time number two in Neuilly, Arnaud Teullé, joined forces to effectively "sack" Martinon.

The UMP national executive then decided to throw its weight behind Fromantin, much to the disgust of Teullé who decided to run for office himself.

It was handbags at dawn stuff as centre-right met centre right in the second round run-off, with Sarkozy Snr remaining quiet as his mother Andrée and one of his closest political confidants, immigration minister Brice Hortefeux, both breaking party ranks to support the by now "dissident" Teullé. In the end, Fromantin beat Teullé, with 61,67% of the vote against 38,33%.

Enter stage left Sarkozy Jnr, who after his own election to the regional council of Haut-de-Seine (in which Neuilly is a canton) has now been asked to take on the responsibility of co-ordinating the UMP’s activities in Neuilly. That's a job that has been filled for the past 10 years by Teullé.

Commenting on his rapid promotion, Sarkozy Jnr pretty much stated the obvious that it wasn't a scoop that the election campaign had left its mark on the party, and he had been asked to "restore peace and serenity." Even Teullé was as gracious as could be in yet again being pushed to one side, claiming that he no longer wished to run the local UMP office because he had done so for the past 10 years.

"Jean Sarkozy is a friend," he said. "I see him often and wish him all the best in his new task." Of course Teullé's "dismissal" had nothing to do with the fact that at a national level the UMP had decided to back another candidate in the mayor's race.

Similarly local UMP party officials have been quick to deny that the next step for Sarkozy Jnr would be the mayor's office.

"We don't want to declare war on the candidate (Fromantin) we supported, maintained the party's local secretary, Jacques Gautier. "Jean represents the young generation and has a maturity that's hard to imagine in someone of his age."

So perhaps Sarkozy Jnr is a little more than the sticking plaster the party would like us to believe. At least he'll now have the time before the next elections to build up his power base and prove that he's worthy of the higher political office for which he is so obviously not being groomed.

Eastenders comes to Paris

Britain has its helping of Eastenders and Coronation Street and the United States has (among others) daily dollops of General Hospital and Days of our Lives. Even Germany has its weekly wonders of Lindenstrasse. But stand aside perennial favourites, over here in France they’ve come up with a scriptwriter’s dream.

It’s the most staggering political soapbox imaginable in the form of the race to be mayor of the swanky Parisian suburb of Neuilly. The stuff to grace the front pages of all the tabloids and a storyline that almost beggars belief. But astonishingly it’s all true.

So hold on to your hats, this is one whirlwind of a story quite befitting of its “author”, none other than the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Yes him again.

Municipal elections take place in France in March. Nope, not the most gripping reading it has to be admitted. But – and there’s a big BUT, Sarkozy has turned one potentially dull local affair into headline news.

It’s all taking place in the terribly staid, blue-rinse and fur coat stronghold of Neuilly-sur-Seine, For donkeys years, well from 1983-2002, it was Sarkozy’s own person fiefdom and he spent many a happy day ensconced in the town hall, politicking to his heart’s content.

With not the slightest touch of arrogance, he decided that his centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement or UMP) party’s candidate for the upcoming mayoral vacancy should be, not his long time number two in Neuilly and party stalwart, Arnaud Teullé, but the young and fiercely ambitious, David Martinon.

Now, Martinon – a close friend of the now former never-really-fancied-the-idea-of-being First Lady, Cecilia, just happens to be Sarkozy’s official spokesman at the presidential palace, the Elysée. And the clear parachuting of an outsider over and above dedicated local politicians ruffled more than a few ostrich feathers and shimmering chignons.

So much so that one non-aligned centre-right politician decided he would run in opposition to the official UMP candidate, and so was born the campaign of the until now virtually unknown Jean-Christophe Fromantin.

Martinon has been wobbling in the polls for some time now, not helped much by the Blue Rinsers running a “Martinon, non, non” push in the press, and not even the efforts of the presidential prodigal, Jean, could prevent the inevitable from happening last weekend when the Elysée spokesman finally threw in the towel and withdrew from the race. Mind you that only happened after both Sarkozy jnr (Jean) and Teullé had publicly criticised the way he had conducted his campaign. So much for party unity.

So back to the drawing board and a crisis meeting followed at the local UMP offices who looked all set to nominate the ever-faithful (back-stabbing) Teullé as their candidate. But at the last-minute a directive came from the national UMP committee deciding that the previously “dissident” Fromantin should have their backing.

But the story clearly and really ain’t over until the Fat Lady finishes warbling and so into the running came a new dissident in the form of a mightily cheesed-off Teullé, who has now decided he’ll run against the person his party wants to see become mayor.

And of course Fromantin, still riding high in those polls, is not actually a member of the UMP.

You would be forgiven for thinking that it’s a right Laurel and Hardy of a mess, because that’s exactly what it is. And the source of the “cacophony”, as he has termed it, is none other than the president himself.

The only sure bet, in a town where a centre-right candidate is a shoe-in for elected office, is that the next mayor will not come from the ranks of the Socialist party.

Meanwhile there are murmurings from one of the Paris wards that a similar internal rebel campaign might be launched against a much bigger parachuted Sarkozy buddy, the justice minister, Rachida Dati.

The local elections could prove to be more interesting than ever imagined and the headline writers might have a field day.