So what do the British living in France make of the choice the French have just made - both in terms of their president and the future direction of the country? It would seem that the national clichés are holding up - the British living in France want France to become more economically liberal, with less protection for workers, lower public spending, and a more positive attitude to globalisation.

Ever since the 17th Century when Britain began its rise as a European superpower, the French have bemoaned our capitalist ways. It was our ‘perfidious’ financial ‘trickery’ that allowed Albion to raise enormous armies (despite being half the size of France at the time) and challenge French hegemony. It would seem the French have distrusted capitalism ever since, seeing it as ‘brutal’, and undermining ‘fairness’ and the fabric of society.

But with so many journeying from the ‘nation of shopkeepers’ to live in France, we thought we’d take a poll of what the British in France think of the current French malaise. As expected, the views of resident Anglo-Saxons sit somewhere to the right of the French. Of our sample of 300, 50% voted for Sarkozy in the first round of voting (20% more than the French), 31% for Royal, and 19% for Bayrou. Said one respondent: ‘The country is held hostage by class-warfare-obsessed Marxists and the rest of the extreme-left entrenched in the trade-union, media and educational systems.’

In the second round, 62% voted for Sarkozy (9% more than the French) and 38% for Royal. Like the French, however, many in our poll saw Sarkozy as a bitter but necessary pill: “I don't like Sarkozy, he seems a bit of a bully, but he knows what will get France on its feet if only the French will take the medicine and accept CHANGE (the dirtiest word in the language along with the one we took from them - ‘entrepreneur’).” “ Whilst Sarkozy has his faults, he appears to be the only candidate likely to initiate change.”

Our ‘liberal’ tendencies were even more marked when voting for specific policies.

90% of the British here feel France is ‘suffering both economically and socially’ and that ‘big changes are necessary to boost the economy.’ Said one: “France needs to wake up and get with the programme.” What that ‘programme’ should be was also clear: 87% feel employment laws need to be relaxed ‘to make it easier for employers to fire workers.’ “ the current 'protection' protects bad workers”. “If France continues to make it hard to be entrepreneurial, it is shooting its economy in the foot.”

83% feel taxes should be lowered ‘to help small businesses in particular to get up and running, and give people more of an incentive to work hard.’ Not surprising really when you consider that in the UK, ‘business’, ‘profit’ and ‘commerce’ aren’t, as in France, dirty words.

Similarly, there seems to be a chasm between French and British attitudes to ‘mondialisation’ - with the French seeing it as a zero-sum game: what China gains, France will lose. 79% of the British, however, coming from a nation that traditionally looked beyond Europe for trade, feel ‘France should embrace globalisation - it’s an opportunity for her to sell luxury goods and expertise to growing markets.’

Farming was another area of difference. With only half as many people employed in agriculture in the UK (2%) than in France, and perhaps because we industrialised so much earlier, we British seem to lack the French tendency to romanticise the ‘land’. As a result, almost three-quarters of the British felt ‘The EU should reduce subsidies to French farmers.’

We know from previous polls that expatriates in France wax lyrical about the country’s superb healthcare system, TGV network and motorway system. But there’s a realisation, with the French national debt so high, that spending needs to be cut somewhere to balance the books. 70% of our sample felt ‘France can not afford current levels of spending.’ One respondent suggest: “Reduce the 'fonctionnaires' by half immediately”

One result from the poll that did surprise was our attitude to immigration. 67% felt that, despite all the social friction caused by immigration, the number of immigrants coming into France should actually be increased - under the proviso that ‘France should select those with the skills that the economy needs.’

Of all the issues polled, education was the most closely-run. just over half (55%) felt that ‘France needs to encourage more freedom in its education system - to allow teachers and students more room for self-expression. Only then will France produce the sorts of creative thinkers it needs to compete in a knowledge economy.’ “The education system should be updated, made more flexible and a greater emphasis put on the arts, music and sport.” However, 45% felt France should retain ‘its emphasis on thorough learning, its centralised curriculum and superior levels of discipline to the UK.’

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