France votes

France goes to the polls today, for parliamentary elections. If the Socialists do well, Hollande will have his mandate for the changes he wants. He has already tickled his electorate's fancy by reducing the retirement age for some workers (just as every other country is increasing it). If he does badly, the changes will be more modest as he gets used to what the French call 'cohabitation'.

The predictions I have seen are that it will be somewhere between the two. Expect a good result for Marine Le Pen, as Sarkozy's UMP is leaderless.