This week, he brought Mr Baroin into the government as budget minister, replacing Eric Woerth, who takes Mr Darcos's place at the labour ministry and is thus in charge of the sensitive pension-reform issue.

ECONOMIST: The French voters blow a raspberry at their president

Reuters news agency reports that Mrs Bettencourt has not spoken of giving money to Mr Sarkozy and has said she has no memory of giving money to the former treasurer of his UMP party, Eric Woerth.

BBC: Snooping row over Bettencourt case flares up in France

Endless television and radio talk shows pick over France's deteriorating image abroad, touching not only the Romanies but also the strike by the national football team at the World Cup this summer and the Bettencourt affair, a political-favours scandal involving Eric Woerth, the labour minister.

ECONOMIST: France's poor image