Carla fails to boost Sarko’s ratings

Nicolas Sarkozy's marriage to Carla Bruni does not appear to be doing him any great favours - a recent poll in France reveals that the majority of French people believe his first year in office has been a terrible failure.

The French president came to power last May, but since then his administration has been marred by government infighting and policy U-turns, with the public confused over what Sarkozy's critics call jumbled and piecemeal reforms.

A survey published yesterday by the daily Liberation found that 59 per cent of people saw Sarkozy's first year as a failure. This followed a poll for the Journal du Dimanche that broke 50-year records with the lowest approval ratings registered by a modern president after a year in office. In a bruising verdict on the man who styled himself as the only person brave enough to radically reform France and restore its greatness, 79 per cent felt he had done nothing to "improve the situation of France and the French".

The lovely Carla Bruni, however, fares better. A survey earlier this month revealed that 90 per cent of French people had given her their blessing as the new First Lady, a remarkable reverse from initial misgivings about the supermodel-turned-singer.