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April 23, 2007
French Election fever
We may have had scorching temperatures for the London Marathon yesterday, but by all accounts France was hotter - or, more accurately, French voters were. A massive 85% of registered voters turned out to vote in the Presidential elections. And, contrary to received wisdom and trends (both in France and UK), it was a vote for the two mainstream traditional parties; rather than for fringe or extreme or protest parties / candidates.
Last time round (2002), the Socialist and UMP candidates only gained 36% of the vote between them; with strong showing in particular for Le Pen and a host of parties of the left receiving 4-5%. This time, Royal and Sarkozy gained 55% of the vote and the extremes were squeezed in favour of those two and the centrist Mr Bayrou. So a real reversal there.
Others more versed in French politics can offer proper explanations for why this has happened. But there is a salient lesson here for the UK; and for Labour in particular. Voters seem to have been attracted back to the main parties because each offered a platform of change and a modern candidate. At the next UK general election it may only be the Conservatives who can easily show that is what they are offering the electorate.
NB. Don't be fooled by the strange 2-stage system used in French to think that it was conducted under PR. It is simply a 2-round version of what we have here - ie. voting for one candidate only, with "First and Second Past the Post" going on to have a separate run-off election a fortnight later. So there you go ... we have more in common with the French than you might think.
Posted by malcolmclark on April 23, 2007
Comments
The voter turnout for this election is really amazing - we could learn from this over here in the US! Ran across this AFP clip that I thought I'd share with you:
Posted by: David at April 23, 2007 07:34 PM
Further evidence to suggest that we English aren't thinking like the French. Today's Guardian/ICM poll shows support for the two main parties here slipping, in favour of the Lib Dems and other 'minor' parties. How wrong that term is considering that the Lib Dems may overtake Labour as the second party in English local government; and parties like Plaid and SNP and even the Scottish Greens - as well as the Lib Dems - are all in with a shout of forming part of a governing coalition in Wales and Scotland.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/localgovernment/story/0,,2064912,00.html
Posted by: Malcolm Clark at April 25, 2007 11:07 AM
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