Sarkozy ‘will be 2012 candidate’

Prime Minister François Fillon is adamant that Nicolas Sarkozy will be the UMP’s presidential candidate in next year’s elections.
“That at least is my hope, because I am convinced that only he can bring home victory for the Right and Centre,” he told a France 2 interviewer.

He specifically ruled out his own candidature, even though a recent opinion poll showed that a majority of voters wanted him to fly the flag for the UMP in 2012.

A confidant of Mr Fillon later commented: “Above all, Fillon doesn’t want to give the impression that he and Sarkozy are more than the width of a cigarette paper apart. Unity is essential if we are to win.”