Last modification: 19/06/12
François Hollande’s victory on May 6, 2012 marks the return of the French left to power, 17 years after François Mitterrand’s historic win in 1981. Hollande, who beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by 51.6% of the vote to 48.4%, came to power on a promise to tax the super rich, promote growth instead of austerity and create thousands of jobs in education. In a first symbolic gesture, the newly-named government led by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault voted to cut ministers’ salary by 30%.