So, Sarko beat Sego, as widely expected, despite her creditable perfomance in the campaign. Although the knives will now be out for her, her score compares well. Only one socialist candidate - Mitterrand - has ever won the French presidency since it bcame directly elected nearly half a century ago. In two out of the eight elections, (1969 and 2002) the Socialist candidate did not even reach the second round. Often, it has been the factionalism of the French left that has led to their downfall.

One important consequence at European level is on the debate on the Constitutional Treaty. Sarkozy supports a simpler treaty, avoiding the constitutional implications that could require a referendum. This puts him on a similar line to that of the Dutch government, supported recently by Tony Blair, as a way to salvage the key reforms contained in the constitutional treaty without raising the constitutional questions that some feared were raised by the Constitutional Treaty.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of Member States (including the two-thirds who have already ratified it) want to salvage the whole treaty, but the combination of Britain, France, Netherlands, and probably some others supporting a less controversial scaled-down text could prove decisive. Let's hope that it doesn't mean we'll lose the really useful reforms contained in the treaty, that Blair rightly hailed as a positive result for Britain and for the whole of Europe.

Am at the Congress of the Party of European Socialists in Porto - an event that will no doubt be largely ignored in the British media (unless there is a tabloid photographer trying to catch people out at the post-conference reception!)

Among the speeches, I particularly enjoyed the contrasting styles of Segolene Royal and John Prescott. Sego was a model of French elegence, saying not very much but so very smoothly. John's style and unique way with words is well known, but accentuated by the fact that he had to curtail a 10 minute speech into 5 (always a challenge for the interpreters) and, in the middle, actually lost a tooth! His speech was well applauded (though not the standing ovation Sego got). It dwelt on climate change - an area where Britain is actually leading Europe into stronger common commitments to cut emmissions.

The conference gathers some 1000 socialists from across Europe (and beyond - Howard Dean was there from America) including about 30 from the British section, namely the Labour party. Labour is respected rather than popular, but it is interesting to see how widespread "New" Labour ideas have become, displayed not least in the speech of the young Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates.

Curiously, the town is full of Brits in the form of footballl supporters there to see their team play FC Porto in the Champions League. I doubt they've enjoyed the trip: torrential rain, a goalless draw, and their team is ...Arsenal. Poor devils!