Who will be France’s next first lady, or gentleman?

When his 2nd wife, Cécilia Attias, near him successful October 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy became the archetypal French president to unrecorded successful the Elysée Palace without a archetypal lady. While it didn’t instrumentality agelong for him to find a suitable replacement – helium was joined to Carla Bruni conscionable 4 months aboriginal – his capricious emotion beingness saw his support ratings plunge.

Over 75% of French respondents claimed successful an ELLE survey published past week that a candidate’s spouse had nary bearing connected their prime of president. But successful a abstracted survey carried retired the aforesaid week and published successful Paris Match magazine connected Thursday, respondents were speedy to take their “favourite statesmanlike couple” retired of the 4 astir apt to determination into (or stay in) the Elysée Palace successful May.

Some 40% of respondents chose François Hollande and spouse Valérie Trierweiler arsenic their preferred statesmanlike couple. Incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and woman Carla Bruni-Sarkozy managed 2nd spot with 26%, but they were intimately followed by François Bayrou and his woman of 40 years, Elisabeth, who is astir ne'er seen successful public, with 19%. Not acold down astatine 15%, Marine Le Pen and her governmental psyche mate, Louis Aliot.

FRANCE 24 takes a look astatine the starring candidates’ partners

Valérie Trierweiler

Trierweiler is simply a well-known governmental writer successful France: she has worked for play mag Paris Match since 1989, and TV transmission Direct 8 since 2005. Twice divorced with 3 children, the 47-year-old from westbound France has been successful a narration with Socialist campaigner François Hollande since 2006, but they lone publically acknowledged their narration successful 2010.

As acold arsenic the French electorate was concerned, Hollande was inactive with his erstwhile spouse and chap Socialist Ségolène Royal until mid-2007, erstwhile Royal faced disconnected against Nicolas Sarkozy successful the 2nd circular of the statesmanlike election. The couple, who person 4 children together, said that they chose not to disclose their break-up until aft the election, which Royal lost. In reality, Hollande had already begun a narration with Trierweiler successful 2006.

Today, Trierweiler is an progressive subordinate of Hollande’s PR team, often accompanying him to election-related events. She adjacent has her ain bureau astatine his run office and is known to re-tweet Hollande. Since helium entered into the statesmanlike race, she gave up a governmental file with Paris Match to debar struggle of interest.

Questioned astir her property by Gala mag successful March, she said “I person a beardown character, I’m frank and I don’t similar things to spell unsaid. People deliberation maine cold, but for maine it’s astir keeping my distance.” She told Paris Match successful March that she is attracted to Hollande’s “sense of humour and intelligence”.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy reached fame agelong earlier her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy. An planetary supermodel successful the 1990s, 44-year-old Italian-born Bruni past moved connected to popular singing, earlier marrying newly-elected President Sarkozy successful February 2008.

Bruni is good known successful France for having a drawstring of precocious illustration affairs; her ex-lovers see stone stars Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. Not agelong aft marrying Sarkozy she told the property that she recovered monogamy “terribly boring”. In March 2010 it was rumoured that Bruni was having an matter with French vocalist Benjamin Biolay. After respective days of speculation, Bruni denied the claims. In October the pursuing year, she gave commencement to her and Sarkozy’s lone kid together.

Bruni remained openly left-wing until 2009, erstwhile she switched allegiances to enactment her husband. Today, she says she is 100% down Sarkozy, and volition “help him with his run successful whichever mode helium needs”.

Elisabeth Bayrou

Married to centrist MoDem enactment campaigner François Bayrou, Elisabeth Bayrou, oregon “Babette”, arsenic helium calls her, is the lone imaginable consort with the aforesaid surname arsenic her partner. Married for much than 40 years, Mrs Bayrou inactive lives successful the tiny municipality successful south-west France wherever the mates met and were joined successful 1971. They are considered the lone “traditional” imaginable archetypal couple. The Bayrous person six grown-up children unneurotic and galore grandchildren.

Mrs Bayrou is media-shy and seldom makes nationalist appearances with her husband. She told the property successful 2002 that she disagrees with making politicians’ idiosyncratic lives public.

She is besides openly “anti-Paris”, saying that the superior “doesn’t frighten her but doesn’t suit her either”. The French property has queried whether she would unrecorded successful the Elysée Palace if her hubby were to triumph the election.

Louis Aliot

Long-time spouse to far-right campaigner Marine le Pen, 42-year-old Louis Aliot is simply a lawyer and amateur rugby subordinate from the south-western metropolis of Toulouse. He is besides a determination councillor and the vice-president of Le Pen’s National Front (FN) party. The lad of a plasterer, Aliot is said to person been a delinquent astatine school. He is divorced with 2 children.

Not lone Le Pen’s spouse but besides her governmental ally, Aliot has been a staunch far-right protagonist since his troubled youth. He enjoys adjacent ties with Le Pen’s father, erstwhile FN person and far-right icon, Jean-Marie le Pen. Aliot and Le Pen inferior seldom marque romanticist appearances successful nationalist owed to their nonrecreational moving narration astatine the FN.

Le Pen is doubly divorced with 3 children.