Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research

Royal Still Leads, Rivals Gain in France

September 10, 2006
Abstract: - Many supporters of France's Socialist Party (PS) believe Ségolène Royal should be their presidential candidate, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Le Point. 52 per cent of respondents would vote for leader of the Poitou-Charentes regional government in a primary election.

- Many supporters of France's Socialist Party (PS) believe Ségolène Royal should be their presidential candidate, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Le Point. 52 per cent of respondents would vote for leader of the Poitou-Charentes regional government in a primary election.

Former presidential candidate and prime minister Lionel Jospin is second with 17 per cent, followed by former finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn with 14 per cent, former culture and education minister Jack Lang with 10 per cent, former prime minister Laurent Fabius with five per cent, and current PS leader François Hollande with two per cent.

On Sept. 1, prospective centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate Nicolas Sarkozy proposed at a university campus that companies retain the right to hold secret ballots during a strike, in order to "end the dictatorship of certain minorities." Royal denounced Sarkozy's plan on Sept. 4 as "truly scandalous", adding that criticizing worker's rights for going on strike is a disregard to France's history.

The UMP's Jacques Chirac of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) won the presidential ballot in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over Jean-Marie Le Pen in May 2002. The next election is scheduled for Apr. 22, 2007. If no candidate garners more than 50 per cent of all cast ballots, a run-off would take place on May 6.

Polling Data

PS supporters - Which of these personalities would you vote for in a presidential primary?

Sept. 2

Aug. 26

Ségolène Royal

52%

57%

Lionel Jospin

17%

15%

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

14%

11%

Jack Lang

10%

9%

Laurent Fabius

5%

5%

François Hollande

2%

3%

Source: Ipsos / Le Point
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 478 French adult supporters of the Socialist Party, conducted on Sept. 1 and Sept. 2, 2006. No margin of error was provided.