FRENCH politics is misogynistic, according to former first lady Valerie Trierweiler.
The one-time partner of French president Francois Hollande has written a tell-all book on seven years as his girlfriend, a relationship that ended when it was reported he was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet.
The book, Merci pour ce moment (Thank You For This Moment), is thought likely to damage Mr Hollande in the eyes of the French people with her claims he calls poor people "the toothless" and he instructed her to be given high doses of tranquillisers, shortly after they had broken up, to keep her in hospital and out of his way.
In an interview with Kirsty Wark on tonight's BBC Newsnight, Ms Trierweiler is asked: "Is France misogyinist?" She says: "In the realm of politics, yes. Women in politics encounter opposition as a matter of course."
Asked why she had written the book, Ms Trierweiler, a journalist, says: "In fact I started writing it before knowing that it was going to become a book. For me writing is a form of therapy, I started writing it when I wasn't feeling terribly well and that was a good reason for writing it."
She says the title "will remain a mystery, a message that only Francois Hollande himself will understand".
And she adds: "It's not a personal attack on Hollande at all, it is the story of our relationship, there are good moments and bad moments."
She adds: "This book wasn't aimed at destroying him; its aim was to help me rebuild my own life. I've also said he is exceptional at times, abroad he comes across very well for instance. I think the book will be an electric shock for him."
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