HE WAS mocked by advisers to his former boss, ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, as “Mister Nobody”. A month before the vote, he languished in fourth place in the polls. But François Fillon, a former prime minister and amateur racing driver, surged from nowhere to take a stunning lead in the French centre-right Republican primary on November 20th. He took 44% of the vote, next to 29% for the other qualifier and fellow ex-prime minister, Alain Juppé. Mr Fillon is now favoured to win the run-off on November 27th, and possibly become French president next spring.
Mr Fillon’s remarkable last-minute acceleration, which led to the eviction of Mr Sarkozy, was partly thanks to a convincing performance in the primary debates. He came across as measured, sharp and trustworthy—and, at the age of 62, a younger alternative to the disliked Mr Sarkozy than the 71-year-old Mr Juppé. The scale of Mr Fillon’s lead was not captured by polls, in part because many of the 4m voters made up their minds late: fully 53% of his supporters said they decided in the final days.
French centre-right voters now have a choice between two candidates who broadly share a…
