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A new star is rising on the French left, propelled by pedal power, loathing of Segolene Royal and the conviction that the French love affair with Nicolas Sarkozy cannot last.
Bertrand Delanoe, 56, the popular mayor of Paris, has the small matter of his own re-election to contend with next spring. His friends and allies are convinced that only he can rescue the divided and quarrelsome Parti Socialiste from a permanent takeover by the defeated but unbowed presidential candidate, Royal.
Delanoe made the first, clear statement of his own national ambitions this week with a biting attack on Royal and President Sarkozy in an article in Le Monde before the Socialist party summer school opens in La Rochelle today.
He accused Royal's failed election campaign of being a triumph of "marketing" over "substance and values" and even over "ethics". He dismissed the recent history of the Parti Socialiste as a "soap opera". This was also a thinly disguised attack on the party leader, Francois Hollande, whose romantic split with Royal after a 25-year unmarried partnership has dominated the post-election manoeuvring on the Left.
Delanoe's popularity has been boosted in recent weeks by the immense success of a cheap, self-service bicycle scheme, which has transformed Paris into a kind of Gallic Amsterdam.
However, one largely unspoken shadow hangs over Delanoe's ambitions. The mayor of Paris is the only high-profile politician in France to have declared his homosexuality. A senior provincial figure in the Parti Socialiste, (and a Royal supporter) told The Independent on Wednesday: "Being mayor of Paris is already a drawback in some parts of the provinces. Being a homosexual mayor of Paris, well, it just doesn't wash, not with party activists and certainly not with the mass of the electorate.
In an opinion poll last week only seven per cent of those questioned identified Delanoe as the most likely person to restore the fortunes of the French Left. Royal remains the popular choice with Socialist party members. The wider electorate prefers the former finance minister, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who may leave French politics shortly to become head of the International Monetary Fund in Washington.
Delanoe's supporters admit that he has an "image deficit" within the wider Socialist party. They believe that this can be repaired if he is overwhelmingly re-elected as mayor of Paris next March. In six years as mayor of Paris, Delanoe, has built a reputation as a practical, imaginative politician. His Velib scheme, which has put a rank of self-service, cheap bikes on almost every street corner, is a classic Delanoe operation.
The cost to bike-users is minimal for short hires. The cost to the tax-payer is zero.
The service is subsidised by the JC Decaux street amenities company in return for advertising sites in the city.
Delanoe supporters say that this is typical of the new thinking that he is prepared to bring to national politics. A triumph for Delanoein the town hall elections next March seems likely.
President Sarkozy does not regard the unseating of Delanoe as a priority. and the new President does not regard the Mayor of Paris as a serious threat in the 2012 presidential election.
- Independent
