Expert Comment
End of road for Sarkozy, but long journey ahead for Fillon says Dr David Lees
The results of yesterday’s first round of the centre-right primaries in France revealed a deep-seated mistrust of former president Nicolas Sarkozy and catapulted his former lieutenant, François Fillon, into first place, says Dr David Lees, expert on French politics from the University of Warwick.
'There will be political ramifications in light of the latest terror attacks in France' says Dr David Lees
Two men armed with knives have been shot dead after taking several people hostage in a church in northern France. Dr David Lees suggests there will be political ramifications for Francois Hollande as a result of this string of five terror attacks during his Presidency.
Under-fire Hollande will use May talks to avoid Frexit
May to meet Hollande at critical time for French President in build-up to 2017 presidential elections.
Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary - a snub to our allies?
Dr Oz Hassan gives his reaction to the appointment of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary.
Prof Seán Hand: French elections shocking to many commentators, but predictable
While this first result was called shocking by many commentators, it was predictable not just as a reaction to recent terrorist attacks, migrant crises, and the continuing sluggishness of the French economy, but as an effect of the long-term strategy of the FN’s leader Marine Le Pen to distance the party from its racist and anti-semitic past intimately associated with her father and the FN’s provocative founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.