Jean-Marc Ayrault resigned as prime minister of France today. So what, the world beyond France will say. News of the fate of prime ministers does not seem terribly important when it comes from republics.
But I'd rather like to offer a friendly farewell to Ayrault, who seemed to me a decent enough man who paid the price as scapegoat for the socialists' catastrophic failure in the weekend's municipal elections. To voters the cause of that catastrophe is not Ayrault but Francois Hollande, who has not impressed on any level I can think of.
I spent election day in Fréjus, since I was writing about the impact of the far right Front National on the municipal map of France. I will post my article for The National once it appears online.
"You don't seem too happy about it," the day tripper from Cannes told Mme Salut in the pleasant square where stands the town hall of this drearily cement-laden Riviera resort. David Rachline - 26 going on 57 - was in the process of being elected Front National mayor.
What can you say to that? "Well no, actually, I don't really approve of a party full of racists and thugs taking charge of a whole town. What next - the country?"
As it happens, yes. Yes, yes ... the country. Marine Le Pen says so. In 2017, she will present a formidable challenge as candidate for the next five years as president.
I do not believe everyone who supports the FN, or even that everyone who represents the party, is either a racist or a thug. They won control of 11 town halls, but failed in other locations where victory seemed within grasp. With so many people - 36+ per cent - abstaining, it may not matter a great deal.
But if I accept that young Rachline does not conform to every left-wing perception of his party - he told me he had, and welcomed, Muslim supporters - I would also offer the thought that a France in which the FN prospered would not be a France in which I wished to spend part of the year.
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