The French left faces disaster in April’s presidential election

ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF François Mitterrand’s death on January 8th Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, went in the driving rain to lay flowers at his grave. She was seeking “inspiration” from the late Socialist president, but it looked more like a requiem for the party’s current candidacy. Polls show Ms Hidalgo, the Socialists’ nominee, winning just 4% in the first round of the French presidential election in April. A result that bad would not only disqualify her from the run-off but fail to meet the 5% threshold for taxpayers to reimburse half of her campaign spending.