French journalist Vanessa Burggraf gives Philippe Poutou a lesson on how to humiliate a presidential candidate…without trying too hard

Media bashing has, in the wake of The Donald’s tediously repetitive “fake news” and “alternative facts” diatribe, become something of a recurring theme in the French presidential election.

Some supporters of the centre-right (although there’s not too much “centre” about him) candidate François Fillon, have been only too keen to lay the blame for the so-called Penelopegate affair (charges that Fillon had employed his wife, Penelope,  as a parliamentary assistant for the modest sum of €900,000 for work that was perhaps never done) at the proverbial door of journalists. The controversy has highlighted the shameful (but, it has to be said, not illegal in France) practice of disabusing tax-payers’ money and prompted the judiciary to get involved.

And the far-right’s Marine Le Pen…well, she’s more in the mould of The Donald in launching regular barbs concerning biased reporting or insufficient media coverage for the Front National while at the same time popping up whenever invited on prime time news to polish and preen her electoral image.

Journalists in cahoots with the political classes? Well, it makes for good fodder and it doesn’t matter whether it’s true (or fake or even an alternative fact). Most pundits would agree that the French are generally pretty cheesed off with their elected (national) representatives as a whole (and who can blame them?)

Vanessa Burggraf (screenshot "On n'es pas couché")

And an event on Saturday evening, will surely for many, only “add grist to the mill” (love a good cliché) that journalists and politicians are in their own little Parisian bubble - far away from the concerns of the general electorate.

It happened during a segment of Laurent Ruquier’s weekly talk show on France 2, “On n'est pas couché”.

The invited political guest was one of the so-called “minor candidates” in a field that currently boasts a total of 49  (although not all of them are expected to be able to gather the required signatures to be able to stand) Philippe Poutou from the far-left Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste.

Philippe Poutou (screenshot "On n'est pas couché")

One of Rouquier’s regular interviewers, Vanessa Burggraf, proved her full journalistic credentials in posing a question about the role of company bosses in preventing redundancies but somehow never managed to wrap her lips around what she really wanted to ask, especially after she was interrupted by the show’s host.

There then followed over two minutes of buffoonery from Burggraff, Ruquier and others as Poutou looked on, bemused and evidently uncomfortable. After all, his party - and it doesn’t matter what you think about its policies - is one the declares itself to “look after the little guy”.

Complete humiliation for Poutou, totally shameful on the part of Burgraff and Ruquier and simply unnecessary.

After all, the recorded segment could simply have been edited. But it wasn’t.

Laurent Ruquier’s “donkey" views on Donald Trump’s behaviour

And that’s a polite euphemism for what has to be one of the most crass public comments this undeniably intelligent man has made during his television and radio career.

You might not be a fan of Laurent Ruquier, but there’s no denying his work ethic and prodigious output.

Just take a look at his (English) Wikipedia profile, “Television and radio host, producer, and satirical comedian. He is also a lyricist, writer, playwright and producer of shows, and owns his own theatre.”

The 53-year-old is probably best known for his weekly show on France 2 - “On n'est pas couché”.

It’s a talk show - a mix of cultural, social, sport and political elements — in which invited guests are given a grilling (or positive critique, depending on the mood of his two “Rottweiler” co-presenters  - currently Yann Moix and Vanessa Burggraf)

Over the years there have been some pretty heated exchanges, particularly when the two Érics - Zemmour and  Naulleau - worked alongside Ruquier. And some celebrities have refused to appear on the programme to promote whatever book, record or film they had just released or participate in a political discussion.

And then there’s the daily programme on RTL radio “Les Grosses Têtes” in which, since 2014 when he moved to the station from Europe 1,  Ruquier is joined by several members of his (faithful) band of “commentators” to take a light-hearted look at some news items and, in a semi-quiz format, determine which famous figures (past and present) might have uttered particular phrases and compete against listeners in an audience challenge.

Laurent Ruquier (screenshot from RTL radio’s "Les Grosses Têtes")

It’s not meant to be too earnest, although sometimes serious issues can be addressed, albeit in a supposedly good-humoured and good-natured way.

But listening to last Sunday’s special (a round-up of the previous week’s highlights) you will have heard Ruquier come out with the most bizarre of statements.

It was almost (but not quite)  a defence of US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s behaviour after the release of a tape in which he had bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy”, the media reaction there had been to the tape and Trump’s subsequent “locker room talk” apology.

“Heaven knows, I’m not for Trump,” Ruquier said (at around 18 minutes into the programme)…making it easy for listeners to guess that there was about to be some sort of justification for the US presidential candidate’s conduct.

“But frankly I’ll defend him - just a little. I think what was done to him last week was disgusting”, he continued, seemingly swallowing Trump’s line that he had in fact been the “victim”.

“If you take any guy who is talking to another guy and record them while they’re talking about women, there would have been exactly the same result.” (Does that argument sound familiar?)

“And the same is true for two women talking about men.” (Add your own exclamation marks).

Now - purely opinion - and not a particularly well-informed one at that. But where exactly does Ruquier get his valuable information from?

First up - to state the obvious - he’s a man.

So as such, even though he is a gay man, he cannot possibly have had  “all-girl chats” - or even know how they talk about men and/or sex when there’s no man around.

Somehow though, he seems not to have grasped that fact - because…?

Well, you answer it.

Then there’s the locker-room talk aspect: as though such language and behaviour is somehow acceptable, excusable, understandable and…whatever this might mean… “normal”.

The two women invited to participate in that particular edition of the show, former Brazilian model turned TV presenter Cristina Cordula and US-born French, singer, actress, director and model (gasp - a “multi-talent”) Arielle Dombasle weren’t entirely (to put it mildly) in agreement with his “analysis”.

But, for the sake of humour and entertainment, their views were dismissed by the show’s host and the other male panellists as they, in time-honoured tradition, maintained that women’s conversations were “just as bad, if not worse.”

M Ruquier - from one man to another, might I suggest that you keep away from a subject about which you can have little or no real knowledge and, while you’re at it, take a listen to the speech US first lady Michelle Obama made in New England last Thursday.

Just in case you missed it, here it is…. in its entirety.



It should, hopefully, make you realise that not only are you very wrong. It might also help you understand that a microphone and a celebrity status do not give you the right to express views that are so ill thought-out and have no substance.

What colour is Rodez cathedral? It can be hard to get a straight answer to a simple question

What colour is the cathedral in the southern town of Rodez?

That's what radio show host Laurent Ruquier wanted to find out on Wednesday.

His "quest" proved to be almost a "mission impossible".

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rodez (from Wikipedia, photographer Jean-Paul Cronimus)

For those of you not familiar with Ruquier, he's a well-known journalist, satirical comedian (whether you find him funny is another matter), columnist, author, playwright, impresario - in fact an all-round talent basically.

He also hosts both television and radio shows and among them is the daily chat show (of sorts) on Europe 1 radio  "On va s'gêner" .

Ruquier takes an often irreverent look at some news headlines by having his faithful band of fellow commentators guess "what the story is" after giving them the briefest of clues in the form of a question which doesn't give away too much of the answer and then...well let's things develop from there.

On Tuesday apparently one of the regulars, veteran journalist Pierre Bénichou, had mentioned that the cathedral in the southern town of Rodez in the département of Aveyron was red.

Not so, said Ruquier the following day, relying on information he had been provided by a listener who insisted that Bénichou had confused the cathedral in Rodez with the arguably more famous one in Albi in the neighbouring département of Tarn (which is well-known for its red brick buildings).

When Bénichou stuck to his guns, Ruquier decided he would ring the Town Hall in Rodez to check who was right.

After all, who better to ask than the people responsible for running the place?

This wasn't a prank call or Ruquier trying to mess around. He genuinely wanted an answer to the question as to whether the cathedral in Rodez was red.

But from the very start it was clear he wasn't going to get a quick answer.

What happened over the next 13 minutes (you can hear the exchanges here) almost defies belief...except it doesn't.

At the beginning it was amusing. Several minutes of radio which perfectly reflect how difficult it can sometimes be to get even the simplest of answers to the most innocent of questions.

Gradually though it became both frustrating and embarrassing.

First of all Ruquier was answered by a receptionist who, clearly not wanting (or able) to answer the question herself, put him on hold while she put him through to the "right department".

Once connected Ruquier repeated his question and once again was put on hold until the person in charge could be found at which point...he landed an answerphone.

Another attempt to call the Town Hall had Ruquier once again transferred from person to person, each one unable or unwilling to answer his question until finally he was put through to one woman who replied rather abruptly, "Who are you?" before giggling and putting the the 'phone down.

Ruquier tried another tack and rang the Bishopric where a woman was unable to answer because she had "a window in her office which didn't faced the cathedral!". Appearing to have been cut off, Ruquier called back only to be told by the same woman, "I'm too busy. to answer. Goodbye."

Next Ruquier turned to what he thought was a local café where a woman replied quite convincingly that the cathedral was neither red nor pink. "It's grey," she asserted. "We're in Aveyron here, not in Tarn."

Hallelujah!

Ruquier had his answer. Someone in Rodez, a town with almost 25,000 inhabitants and which boasts the rather splendid Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Rodez (built from 1277 to 1542 - thank you Wikipedia) had been able to answer his question...INCORRECTLY.

Because later in the show Ruquier had the mayor of Rodez Christian Teyssèdre who, while insisting that the staff at the Town Hall were a "cheerful crowd" confirmed (at 68 minutes) that the cathedral was, "Red or rather pink as we say here."

Phew. At least one Ruthénois who knows what colour the building is.

Perhaps Ruquier should have rung the Tourist Office instead. Someone there would have been able to tell him that the cathedral was made from red sandstone - er...you would hope.

"Tourette's Superstar" - French parody - funny or lame?

In March the BBC announced plans to launch a new kind of reality TV show - one which "will follow three Tourette's sufferers as they prepare to sing live in front of friends and family."

It was apparently no April Fool and it didn't take long for French "comedians" to latch on to the idea of parodying the idea.

Nicole Ferroni and Jérémy Ferrari (screenshot "On n'demande qu'à en rire")

The lampooning came in a recent edition of "On n'demande qu'à en rire", an early evening comedy show broadcast on France 2 public television to provide a showcase for new talent.

The whole premise of the programme, devised and presented by Laurent Ruquier, is that established comedians can help give up-and-coming ones a helping hand by telling them what they think of their sketches and voting accordingly.

The studio audience also gets its say as does the viewing public - once a week.

Contestants are given a topical story as the theme of their stand-up routine and if they secure enough points they can come back again...and again...and again.

The whole thing is a sort of wannabe factory production line for would-be comedians with professionals giving their thoughts on those that might follow in their footsteps.

So in principal, the idea has something going for it.

Except for one thing.

It's extremely unfunny most of the time.

On the whole it's not clever or entertaining but rather daft and mindless.

Take the case of that recent sketch lampooning the BBC's plans for a Tourette's TV reality show by Jérémy Ferrari.

It earned the perfect score - 100/100 - from the judges, Ruquier and the studio audience.

Ferrari is one of the darlings of the show having appeared more than 70 times and together with several other regulars, put on a performance of Tourette Academy.

He was the MC - a sort of cross between Benjamin Castaldi (Loft story and Secret Story) and Nikos Aliagas (Star Academy) - his "partners in comic crime" were the contestants.

The audience howled, the judges were full of praise and Ruquier was beside himself.

Really? Was it that funny?

Or do you think it's all...well rather lame?

It doesn't matter if you don't speak French as the sketch really is a case of one where actions speak more clearly than words.

A French couple's "toothsome" lunchtime discovery

A gentle warning before you read any further, especially if you're just about to sit down to eat.

The following tale might put you off your grub.

(from Wikipedia, author Rainer Z)

That's certainly the effect it had on a couple in the western French town of Guérande on the coast of Brittany

Retired policeman Jean-Paul Dosset and his wife Claudine, had defrosted some chipolatas and put them on the grill to share with family and friends for lunch on Monday.

And all was well until, as the regional daily Ouest France reports, Claudine bit into one of the sausages and discovered of all things...a tooth.

Well to be precise it was a post crown; not exactly the most appetising accompaniment to the meal and one which, not surprisingly really, rather put the couple and their guests off their food.

"There were chipolatas, steak haché (mince) and chips on the menu," 61-year old Dosset said on Laurent Ruquier's daily round-table radio show "On va s’gêner" on Europe 1

"We're a large family and we didn't know how many people would be coming to lunch," he continued.

"My wife took a mouthful of chipolata and felt something hard, first of all thinking it was a bone.

"But after she discovered what it was, that was curtains for the main course and we went straight to the dessert - a yoghurt."

Their cat ate the rest of the sausages and lunch on Tuesday was fish.

The manufacturer of the chipolata, Défial Normival, is more than a little non-plussed about how the offending tooth apparently managed to make its way inside the sausage in the first place, as the director of quality control, Cédric Loyer told Ouest France the day after the story first hit the headlines

"The meat passes through several processes of cutting and mincing," he told the paper.

"It's impossible that the tooth managed to get through without being detected or being marked in any way."

The Dossets don't intend to ask for compensation, but they still have the tooth and have written a letter to Défial Normival, repeating their story.

Meanwhile the company is reportedly waiting for a "complete analysis" before making any further comment.

This latest "toothsome" discovery comes just a month after a couple from the western city of Angers found a post crown - complete with root - in their lunchtime steak haché.

As the French say, "Bon appetit".

Paris hotel opens an anti-snoring room

The InterContinental-owned Crowne Plaza chain of hotels perhaps has the answer for travellers whose sleep is disturbed by their partners snorting and grunting their way through the night.

The chain is testing a "snore absorption room" in nine different hotels across Europe and the Middle East from June 27 to July 1.

Crowne Plaza Paris République (screenshot from YouTube video)

One of the hotels at which guests can book the snore absorption room - at the same price as any standard room - is the Crowne Plaza Paris République in the French capital.

And as Olivier Billard, the Rooms Division Manager of the hotel, told Europe 1, the idea is to allow both guests in the room to get a good night's sleep.

"The concept is being tested throughout the week at our hotel in just one room which has been specially converted to minimise the noise made by the person snoring," he told a rather perplexed and definitely ill-behaved team during Laurent Ruquier's afternoon round-table radio show on Monday.

"The walls and the headboard have been sound-proofed and there's also a special anti-snoring pillow which prevents the person from lying on his or her back," he continued.

"To help the person being kept awake by the snoring there's a white noise machine which emits a relaxing sound similar to the wind in the trees."

Sceptics might think that the idea nothing more than a publicity stunt especially as it's on a trial basis.

But as Business Traveller points out the Crowne Plaza chain has a reputation for "innovation".

In 2010 for example it came up with the idea of putting real grass in a number of its meeting rooms at two of its British and one of its Irish hotels to "unlock some long-forgotten childhood creativity."

And last year as part of an eco-friendly initiative the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers in Denmark installed electricity-producing bicycles and offered guests a free meal if they produced 10 watt hours of power.

Sweet dreams

Dominique de Villepin's Rolling Stone is a Beatle

Former French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, confuses The Beatles with The Rolling Stones during a prime time television show.

Dominique de Villepin (photo from Wikipedia, copyright David Mendiboure - Service photo de Matignon)

Dominique de Villepin is due to launch his own political movement on June 19.

It's the next stage of his possible bid to become the next French president when elections take place in 2012.



As France 24 reported earlier this year, the new "independent political movement" is viewed by many as a challenge to his "bitter rival" the current French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

With the launch fast approaching, Villepin has been multiplying his public appearances and of course has been making full use of the country's media to get his message across.

Last weekend for example, he appeared on Dimanche +, the Sunday afternoon political magazine on Canal +, during which he criticised Sarkozy's foreign policy, saying France's voice wasn't being heard loud enough in the Middle East or Afghanistan,

But just a few days prior to that while on "La boïte à questions" portion of the daily evening news and talk show, Le Grand Journal, on the same channel, Villepin made an error which has more than amused some commentators.

"La boïte à questions" is a short segment of the show during which guests are invited into a room in which they face a screen displaying questions sent in by viewers.

It's a light-hearted affair, obviously meant to be entertaining, but it can at times be quite revealing.

Such was the case with Villepin.

His question and answer session started off well enough.

"Can you say in English, 'I might be a candidate (for the presidency) in 2012'," he was asked.

The former diplomat, one-time foreign minister, and prime minister from 2005-2007 responded with aplomb, albeit it heavily accented.

The next question was one designed to test Villepin's street credibility when he was asked "to show that you're more 'with it' than Benoît Hamon (the 42-year-old spokesman for the Socialist party) can you tell us who Lady Gaga is?

"She's a charming singer, a little eccentric," he replied without flinching.

But it was when the 56-year-old was asked a question about a musical group with which his age would presumably make him more familiar that he came somewhat unstuck.

"If you had been a member of the Rolling Stones, which one would you like to have been?" flashed up on the screen.

"It would have been difficult to have been Mick Jagger," began Villepin in response.

"So probably Ringo Star."

It was a blunder which, as far as the well-known French radio and television presenter Laurent Ruquier was concerned, didn't bode well for the former prime minister.

"It's not by confusing the two (groups) that Dominique de Villepin will appear more intelligent," commented Ruquier during his daily radio programme on Monday.

"Of course it's a mistake that anyone could make as not everyone is familiar with the Beatles" he continued.

"But to try to give the impression that you know something, when you don't, that's not particularly admirable."

French bride requests annulment moments after marriage

"I do" and then "I don't" barely 10 minutes later was very much the pattern of events for a newly-wed bride in France last weekend.

The wedding and almost immediate request for an annulment happened in the city of Tours in central France.

The evidently not-so-happy couple, both aged 25, were married in a civil ceremony at the city hall in front of the deputy mayor, François Lafourcade.

Nothing untoward seemed to mark the short ceremony, according to a report carried in the regional newspaper, La Nouvelle République, and Lafourcade said that everything appeared to proceed as expected.

Perhaps he should have known better.

"I had the feeling that something wasn't quite right, but everything seemed normal with nothing really missing; there were flowers, the rings, and the witnesses," he told the newspaper.

"I just posed the required questions and the bride answered 'yes' in a somewhat irritated," he continued.

"Afterwards the couple and their families left the room and I stayed behind with a couple of officials and just as I was getting ready to leave the bride returned and asked me to annul the whole thing on the spot."

So what had happened in such a short space of time to make the one half of the barely-wed couple change her mind?

Well according to some people present interviewed by the newspaper, once the families had made their way outside the building, the two mothers-in-law started arguing (no jokes please) and the tone escalated to such an extent that the police were called.

It was then that the young woman returned to deputy mayor to make her request, but was informed that she would have to make an official application to the public prosecutor if she really wanted the marriage to be annulled.

But there is perhaps more to the story than has appeared so far, as the journalist, Paul Wermus explained after digging a little deeper into what had happened for Laurent Ruquier, the host of an afternoon programme on national radio.

"The woman comes from the suburbs of Paris and the man is originally from Tunisia," said Wermus.

"All the signs are that it might have been an arranged marriage and the wife wasn't necessarily getting married of her own free will," he continued.

"The case is now with the public prosecutors office to determine whether there is in fact a case for annulment."

One of the grounds given in the French civil code for allowing a marriage to be declared invalid is if it can be proven that the "contract was entered into without the free consent of both spouses."

Food - the proof of the pudding really is in the eating

In September 2009, Traction Man, a UK blogger who had spent much of the year in hospital, made the headlines when his "hospital food bingo" game.

It was, as the BBC reported at the time, a challenge he set for his friends to try to identify the meals he had been served up over a period of time, which he described as being invariably "mushy, minced and overcooked".

Not surprisingly perhaps it wasn't always easy for them to guess what was on the "menu" just from the photographs alone.

Commenting at the time on the story, Laurent Ruquier, a well-known radio and television presenter in France, suggested on his daily round-table radio show here that it perhaps went a long way to illustrating the British (and US) obsession for the way in which food is presented and how it looks.

Although The French, he mused (not necessarily seriously) were often equally guilty of paying as much attention to the appearance of what was on their plate, on the whole they were more concerned with taste, edibility and flavours.

Well at a time when many of us are probably recovering from seasonal excesses, two rather different dishes left food for thought (sorry) for one particular gourmet - or should that be gourmand? - on this side of the Channel.

One was sautéed scallops served on a bed of puréed sweet potatoes bought from a local delicatessen and in theory a truly mouth-watering treat for the eyes (if such a thing is possible.



The other was a more homely looking (all right then it resembled something of a dog's dinner when served up) venison in a red wine sauce accompanied by a couple of mashes involving potatoes, celeriac, carrots and various spices.



Certainly from the photos you can see that one definitely looked more tempting, but as if to substantiate that old adage that "the proof of the pudding really is in the eating" it shouldn't be too difficult to guess which one really tickled the taste buds while the other disappointed.

Bon appetit.

The world "according to" superhero Sarkozy

Ah the wonders of the Internet. Sometimes things take a while to get started but once they're up and running there's no stopping them.

What follows is a rather unkind (depending of course on your politics) look at the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, which has been doing the rounds of French blogs for some weeks now, but came to the attention on Wednesday of a certain Laurent Ruquier on his daily programme on national radio, Europe 1.

A word or two on Ruquier. He is in the mould of many a French entertainer - namely multi-talented - although he takes it somewhat to the extreme.

He's a journalist, satirist-comedian, who until recently hosted a daily television programme and a weekly one too, which is still running.

Add to that the fact that he's a lyricist, columnist, author and playwright with several theatre productions under his belt, and it's a wonder he still finds time to host a daily late afternoon show on national radio.

But he does.

It's a somewhat irreverent look at some of the stories making the headlines here in France.

Ruquier has his faithful band of fellow commentators guess "what the story is" by giving just the briefest of clues in the form of a question which doesn't give away too much of the answer.

In the introduction to yesterday's show, Ruquier took a look at a list which "proves" that the French president is indeed a "superhero".

Of course it relies on the fact that Sarkozy has the reputation of having something of an over-inflated ego. His alleged remarks on other world leaders just last week would perhaps be proof of that.

As Ruquier remarked, substitute the name Sarkozy with that of anyone else with a similar character, and it would still work.

Probably. But for the moment it's Sarkozy's name that features, and here are 10 of the best.

For the full list so far, click here (sorry it's in French).

Nicolas Sarkozy can circle his enemies all by himself.
Nicolas Sarkozy is capable of leaving a message before the beep.
Nicolas Sarkozy knows how to slam an already closed door.
When Google can't find something, it asks Nicolas Sarkozy.
The Swiss aren't neutral. They're just waiting to find out what Nicolas Sarkozy's opinion on a subject is.
Nicolas Sarkozy doesn't wear a watch. He decides what time it is.
Nicolas Sarkozy can divide by zero.
God said, "Let there be light!" And Nicolas Sarkozy replied, "We say 'please'."
Jesus Christ was born in 1955 before Nicolas Sarkozy.
Some people wear Superman pyjamas. Superman wears Nicolas Sarkozy pyjamas.

Just for the record in a post which has probably already given far too many name checks than one person rightly deserves, the most recent batch of opinion polls on Sarkozy's popularity ratings throw up some pretty mixed messages.

He's still not doing too well, at around 36 per cent for the month of March according to one carried out by Ifop that appeared in the centre-right national daily Le Figaro recently.

Just last week though, the same paper was quoting a poll that had appeared in another national daily, Le Parisien, and conducted by CSA showing that 42 per cent of the French had "confidence in the way Sarkozy was handling the (economic) crisis."

Then of course there's that other yardstick or "poll of polls" if you will, in the form of Paris Match, a weekly magazine that mixes national and international news with a healthy dollop of celebrity lifestyle features.

Its latest poll (once again carried out by Ifop) has former president Jacques Chirac back at the top of the list of France's most popular political personalities, with the junior minister for human rights, Rama Yade, and her immediate boss the foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, sharing second spot.

Sarkozy is down in 33rd place a few places ahead of Ségolène Royal, who according to (yet) another poll conducted by Opinionway for Le Parisien is the person seen by the French as having the best stab at challenging him for office in 2012.

Confused?

Well there will probably be plenty more polls open to equally muddled interpretation over the coming weeks here in France as the parties jockey for position ahead of the European parliamentary elections in June.

Oh yes one last superhero Sarkozy characteristic, just to round off this post.

Nicolas Sarkozy has already counted to infinity - twice.

Sarkozy superhero

DSK for president - in 2012?

Tuesday's left-of-centre French national daily, Libération, published a poll that apparently makes Dominique Strauss-Kahn the front runner for the Socialist party's nomination for the 2012 presidential race.

It also says that a majority of the French would like to see the selection of the party's candidate in 2012 open up to more than just its 233,000 card carrying members.

All right, so the real race itself might be a long way off, but that hasn't stopped the ever-divided French Socialist party from continued internal bickering ever since its candidate in 2007, Ségolène Royal, lost out to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round of voting.

But Libération's poll seems to indicate that DSK - as he's usually known here - is in with a shout when he returns from his stint as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

And indeed the paper goes as far as to suggest that he's the front runner among the French as a whole regardless of party affiliation.

Of those polled, 28 per cent plumped for DSK.

The outcome though was slightly different when those who declared themselves Left of Centre or Socialists were asked their opinion.

Coming out on top with 25 per cent (Left) and 26 per cent (party members) was none other than Royal once again.

The poll, carried out by Viavoice, also looked at how the French felt about the options open to the Socialist party as it seeks to overcome internal divisions that have characterised it since Royal was nominated as its candidate back in 2007 and came to a head when she went up against Martine Aubry for the leadership of the party last November.

It asked whether the party should choose a future nominee by opening up the vote to a wider base by holding "primaries" along the lines of the US presidential selection process, or stick with the current "members only" procedure.

It's something the party's current leadership is reportedly "considering" changing to ensure its nominee has the widest possible appeal.

But hang on a moment.

As Laurent Ruquier, a well-known radio and television presenter said on his daily round-table radio show yesterday, there could be more to Libération's report and "commissioned" poll than first meets the eye.

Why should anyone outside of the party be consulted as to who they thought would make the best candidate in the first place, he asked.

Ruquier pointed out that the paper had "conveniently" blurred the Socialist party's current modus operandi by introducing a "spurious" concept - that of non-party members getting a say in choosing the candidate in the first place.

He also questioned the "spin" the paper had put on the "findings" of the poll - by appearing to put in a good word in for DSK who has been "absented" from the domestic political scene ever since Sarkozy nominated him to be the head honcho at the IMF.

In fact Ruquier went so far as to call the poll a "lot of nonsense" during his programme, and accused "friends of DSK" and Libération itself of being in cahoots to give a false impression of how popular the man is.

He said the poll and the report was a clear "manipulating of the figures to give the wrong impression."

Oh dear. And thing's had been rather quiet recently on the political front here recently as far as the Socialist party has been concerned.

Perhaps too quiet.