Pop go France's politicians

An all-singing, all-dancing video by President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right political party has become the mocking buzz of the month on French-language websites.

The three-minute clip, in which several Cabinet ministers and a former Prime Minister lip-synch and "dad dance" to a 1970s pop song, has spawned half a dozen instant parodies.

The video was made by the youth wing of Sarkozy's Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), or Jeunes Populaires. Days before its official launch, the short film, showing the politicians bopping with varying degrees of talent and conviction had become what the French call "un tube" - a hit.

The "singing" MPs include some of the best-known faces in French politics, such as Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, Sports Minister Rama Yade and Employment Minister Xavier Darcos. They join a group of earnest and well-scrubbed young UMP members in performing to the lyrics of a 1976 French hit Tous Ceux Qui Veulent Changer Le Monde (Everyone Who Wants to Change the World).

The clip also features a brief debut performance as a pop singer by former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Other centre-right politicians - perhaps jealous not to have been invited - have reacted sourly. Former Education Minister Luc Ferry said the clip made him "want to vomit". Yves Jego, former Minister for French Overseas Territories, said: "Honestly, I think that this was a mistake."

A Facebook group formed to ironically call for the song to be the French entry for next year's Eurovision song contest has signed up 26,664 people.

- INDEPENDENT