François Hollande on the Late Late Show

• At once brilliant and hopeless. It is quite an intellectual feat to churn out a ream of statistics and figures over the space of 75 minutes, even though all the other products of France's elite schools could no doubt do as well. But hopeless just the same as the vast majority of French people had little idea of what he was rabbiting on about. Hollande spoke at a speed which almost defied belief, as though intent to ensure that not a single fact so carefully memorised went untold, regardless of its total lack of impact.
• The usual technique of asking his own questions and then answering them was observed throughout.
• As usual, a panel of experts was wheeled in afterwards to "interpret" and "decipher" what the President had just said, as if he were the Delphi oracle.
• The programme was scheduled to last 45 minutes but overshot by half an hour. This is a regular feature of French life. If our leaders can't be trusted to respect a time limit what hope is there of their ever meeting any other target?
• In spite of all this, I wouldn't write Hollande off just yet. The opposition is a mess and the extreme parties a joke. It could be that his biggest challenge will come from within the ranks of his own majority, only latterly (if at all) converted to the virtues of social democracy let alone the market economy.