France

France

“…The party's 21 per cent vote resulted in the loss of nine of its 29 seats. The poor showing contributed to the resignation of UMP leader Jean‐Marc Copé, whose position within the party had been greatly weakened following the disputed leadership contest with former Prime Minister François Fillon (see Startin : 78). During the campaign, the party appeared somewhat divided in terms of its position over Europe, with Fillon's more conciliatory stance towards the EU in contrast to Copé’s more Eurosceptic discourse.…”

“…On the back of the aforementioned municipal election result and the resounding defeat of the Socialist Party, Manuel Valls, the Minister for the Interior, was appointed Prime Minister on 31 March following the resignation of Jean‐Marc Ayrault. Valls’ new cabinet – in effect Hollande's third after Ayrault I and Ayrault II (see Startin , ) – which lasted until late August, was in numerical terms one of the smallest in the history of the French Fifth Republic, with just 16 full members. The French Greens (EELV), who had been members of the previous Ayrault cabinets, chose not to participate in the new government and were unrepresented in a cabinet which comprised 15 members of the Socialist Party and two of the Radical Left Party.…”

France

“…After the ‘four rounds of voting in the presidential and legislative elections’ of 2012 (see Startin : 70), there were no national elections in 2013. The schedule of upcoming elections in France is shown in Table .…”

“…The year 2012 had been a very negative one for France's political elites in terms of political corruption scandals. With the Gaullist UMP still reeling from the verdict against former President Chirac (see Startin : 77), former President Sarkozy himself had appeared in court in 2012 to answer questions about whether he had illegally accepted donations of up to €150,000 from l'Oreal millionaire heiress Liliane Bettencourt to fund his 2007 election campaign (see Startin : 77). The charges against Sarkozy were dropped in October 2013 (Davet & Lhomme ) – a development that not only fuelled speculation that Sarkozy might run again for presidential office in 2017, but also put Hollande and his government back on in the firing line due to the negative fall‐out associated with political corruption.…”

“…On 4 December 2012, the story surrounding the conduct of Socialist Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac created a political storm when Mediapart (an investigative online news and opinion website) ‘alleged that Cahuzac had an undisclosed bank account in Switzerland, and the website claimed also to possess a recording in which Cahuzac expressed concern that his account would be unearthed’ (Startin : 14). The day after the allegations, Cahuzac refuted the claim in the French National Assembly, stating: ‘I do not have, have never had, an account abroad.…”