Politicians in France welcome Blair with unanimity

IT'S been ages since French politicians reacted to an event with unanimity, but Tony Blair's election victory had something good for all of them.

Mr Lionel Jospin and his Socialist Party thought it was a positive omen for their own legislative election battle; President Jacques Chirac and his ruling centre right coalition, who have staked theirs future on European integration, were relieved that Britain might be more cooperative in the EU economic reformers said Mr Blair was a moderate politician who wisely set "socialist dogma" aside.

After the more formal "Monsieur le Premier Ministre", Mr Chirac penned in "Cher Ami" by hand at the top of his letter to Mr Blair. He congratulated the new prime minister on his "brilliant" success and asked him to come to Paris soon. "You can count on my complete availability and on my total support to pursue Franco British co operation," Mr Chirac said.

Their two countries should approach upcoming European political deadlines in close consultation.

The French like Mr Blair's youth, and a recent television documentary showed he spoke French well.

Mr Jospin said British voters "know how to change policies to change their future". The Prime Minister, Mr Alain Juppe, however, said Mr Blair's brand of socialism has nothing to do with the variety practised in France.

Mr Blair's victory was good news for Europe, Le Monde's editorial said. The newspaper also took heart from the fact that Mr Paddy Ashdown's Liberal Democrats, "the only truly Euroenthusiast party on the British political scene", made significant gains.