Today in France at 11am, François Hollande was officially announced president of the republic of France with the final tallying of the votes.
He will take the reins from Nicolas Sarkozy on the 15th May after gaining 51,6% of the public's vote.
What can we expect from this man who has never held a ministerial office or served in any government before?
Opinions are as split as the votes were..
He is anti - austerity. Sarko is centre right, and had alligned himself to Merkel and America and like the rest of Europe had engaged in an austerity pact , to bring costs down, to save money where possible and to try and bring their huge debts under control. Hollande argues that what the country needs is spending to encourage growth.
- He has promised 60,000 new jobs for teachers
- He plans on spending 20billion on stimulating job growth for young people..
- The pathetic 35 hour week will be here to stay
- The retirement age which increased from 60 years to 62 under Sarko ( and resulted in rioting throughout France) will probably be dropped back to 60 once again
- To pay for this he will have to increase the rate of corporation tax
- A tax of 75% on income will be introduced for those earning over 1million " I don't like the rich " he was quoted as saying last year. Neither does 51,6% of the population who were just tired of president Bling Bling rubbing their noses in it. Many wealthy French people are planning their exodus as I type...
- There are also worries that he will try to change the auto entrepeneur status
What can Hollande really do though in fairness with his plans for his Nanny State? His hands are tied by the European banks and treaties that have been signed and sealed. Merkel has already announced on Hollande's election that there will be no negotiation on the fiscal treaty ( One of his main points of his manifesto was to negotiate better terms for France!). The banks are predicting an increase in interest rates and I think we can expect taxes to rise as well ...Under a socialist regime, it will be the middle classes who will suffer. The people who have educated themselves to do better in life, to earn a better income/lifestyle who will be taxed more and dare I say discriminated against. The super wealthy will just leave
In France, it appears, being wealthy is a crime ; tax being the punishment . Oh well, better stop buying those lotto tickets!!