Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal (born 22 September 1953 in Dakar, Senegal) is a French politician. She is the President of the Poitou-Charentes region, a National Assembly member, and the Socialist candidate for the 2007 French presidential election. In the first round of voting for that election, on April 22, 2007, Royal received 25.9% of votes to qualify for the second round to face Nicolas Sarkozy, who received 31.2%. Either Royal or Sarkozy will be elected the next President on May 6.
Royal is good-looking and typically French. Her father Jacques Royal, is a Catholic, conservative French army colonel.
Policies
Segolene Royal has promised to implement leftist economic policies that will "frighten the capitalists." She also calls for European opposition to "the American hyperpower." [1]
She is known for her admiration for some "Third Way" policies (and has been compared to Tony Blair in this respect), for her insistence on the importance of the "welfare state" and for her support of participatory democracy and devolution.
