Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidential elections in France. The centre-right front-runner defeated his Socialist opponent, Segolene Royal, by 53-47%. His victory was followed by a few riots in central Paris and an expensive yachting holiday off Malta for the president-elect.

He famously described young delinquents in the Paris suburbs as racaille, or “rabble”.

“The French people have called for change. I will carry out that change, because that’s the mandate I have received from the French people.”