France – Rachida Dati Runs for Mayor of Paris

A new challenge for Rachida Dati – Mayor of Paris?

I’ll probably start in international war with this on the scale of Freedom Fries – but until recently I never conflated the words French Woman…

And hot. I guess I was too young for the Bridgette Bardot school.

Rachida Dati (left), French First Lady Carla Bruni Sarkozy (right)

Even when admiring the fairer skinned beauties. Up North, Yeah! Italy? Yeah! Paris? Hmmmmmm…

I mean Thomas Jefferson saw fit to bring Sally Hemmings.

And yeah, I’ve been to Paris, Marseilles, and Nice several times.

Then along comes their new President Sarkozy, who added …

Some tan to the situation, along with what had to have been one of the best looking Cabinets in the world – which apparently he’s already fired…

French Secretary of State for Sports, Rama Yade

And then goes and marries quite possibly the second most attractive First Lady in the world (behind Michelle, of course).

So .. After being sacked from the Ministry – what next for Rachida? Mayor of Paris?

Well if the latest report in the national daily, le Parisien, is to be believed, that’s exactly what the former French justice minister and recently-elected European parliamentarian has in mind.

Dati apparently wants to be the centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire’s (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP), candidate for the post of mayor of the capital in the next municipal elections, due in 2014.

Yes it might seem years away, but Dati is reportedly gunning for a return to the domestic political arena.

She’s already mayor of the capital’s VII arrondissement, having won election in March 2008 after being parachuted in as the UMP’s candidate for what was to all intents and purposes a shoo-in for the party.

And now apparently her sights are set on even bigger things.

The paper reports that Dati rang the French prime minister, François Fillon, at the weekend, and left a message on his answerphone making clear her motivation and determination to make a return to the domestic political scene.

“Dear François, I just wanted to tell you that the position of mayor really interest me and there’s a strong possibility that I’ll put my name forward,” she’s reported as saying.

“Especially as the last time we spoke about it, you said you weren’t interested.”

Fillon, says the paper, responded shortly afterwards with an sms saying he had listened to her message.

There are perhaps a couple of major obstacles standing in the way of Dati’s ambitions.

Not least of them is the fact that she doesn’t have an easy relationship with some advisors close to the French president,Nicolas Sarkozy.

Indeed they are widely thought to be behind the distance Sarkozy put between himself and his erstwhile protégée last year.

Remember he brought Dati into the government in June 2007 as the first person, let alone woman, of North African descent to hold a top ministerial position.

It was generally seen as a pretty smart choice by Sarkozy as part of his policy of “opening up” the government and French politics to make it better reflect political and ethnic diversity in the country.

But her management skills, extravagant lifestyle, departmental overspending and perceived incompetence (from political critics and the judiciary alike) often saw her become the focus of media ridicule.

She gradually lost favour with the president to the extent of first being excluded from the so-called “G7” or inner circle of ministers consulted over future government strategy and thenbeing “strongly encouraged” by Sarkozy himself to stand for election to the European parliament.

BTX3 is brushing up on his French.