Hollande opinion up since attacks

FRENCH voters say their opinion of President Hollande has improved since the Paris terror attacks on January 7 and 9.

In a BVA opinion poll commissioned by Orange and iTélé, respondents praised Hollande for the way he handled the crisis and the fact that the solidarity marches that followed went ahead peacefully.

His popularity score has risen 10 percentage points to 34 per cent as a result.

Thomas Guénolé, a politics expert at Sciences-Po in Paris, told France Info: "When Hollande is dressed up as a war chief, battling against a violent threat, his popularity soars. Le Hollande-bashing is over."

Prime minister Manuel Valls also saw a nine per cent rise in popularity to 44 per cent, while interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve's score was up 14 points at 33 per cent.

The difficult situation France has faced in the past fortnight had no impact at all on the approval ratings for either Nicolas Sarkozy or Marine Le Pen, both on 27 per cent.