MENTON, France, March 5 (Reuters) – In a French Riviera town nestled between the mountains, the Mediterranean and the Italian border, a disgraced former president’s son is hoping to launch his political career with a new, untested brand of conservatism flecked with U.S. influence.
Louis Sarkozy, 28, son of ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, spent his teens and early 20s living in the United States, where he said he forged his political identity during an era dominated by President Donald Trump.
Now back in France, Sarkozy is using this month’s mayoral election in the small town of Menton as a testing ground for whether his household name and Trump-inflected brand of right-wing politics can outflank a strong far-right rival rooted in traditional French nationalism.
SUPPORT FROM CENTRIST AND CENTRE-RIGHT RIVALS
Sarkozy’s political platform is tailored to local themes, such as a housing crisis sparked by an influx of vacation rentals and fighting crime. He is running without any party affiliation but is supported by centrist and centre-right rivals, who have backed him with the aim of preventing a far-right National Rally (RN) victory.
Louis Sarkozy hopes he can follow in the footsteps of his father, who used the mayorship of the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly as a catapult to the presidency.
But he is aware the Sarkozy name could also prove a hindrance. His father was briefly jailed last year on corruption charges he denies, and has spent much of his post-presidency life grappling with a series of legal scandals that have tarnished the family name.
On the French Riviera, a Sarkozy Heir Seeks to Chart His Own Political Path
