JOSPIN'S surprise lead in the first round of French presidential elections is a primarily a defeat to Chirac.
Up to now Jacques Chirac has been the most successful of the right wing candidates in giving an impression of a sympathetic understanding of the pressures on France's voters.
•He has thrown out a series of enigmatic remarks which hint at support for wage rises, reviving the economy and a referendum on Economic and Monetary Union.
This enabled him to gain ground against fellow Gaullist Prime Minister Edouard Batladur, who entered the campaign as clear favourite.
The combination policy of the franc fort (hard money) and a frenetic foreign policy has meant a permanent economic squeeze resulting in chronic high unemployment and a budgetary black hole created by demands on the social security system.
The débacle of European action in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere has called into question the effectiveness of French leadership abroad.
Racist vote
The record 15% vote for Le Pen's National Front is an indication of the disenchantment of voters with the mainstream parties. Racism in republican guise will undoubtedly be a feature of a new rightwing presidency.
The Socialist Party candidate Lionel Jospin has laboured under the heavy burden of the memories of Socialist misrule.
On the other hand, Chirac has shown the left how it could start to revive its fortunes: dump Maastricht; dump imperial ambitions, go for jobs and growth. The left now has to pressure Jospin to take this course.