Those who see Nicolas Sarkozy as some kind of miniature Margaret Thatcher or a hardline right-winger, would be very wide of the mark.

His instincts are those of international capital but his understanding is, crucially, that globalisation means that France, like Britain, has to face the world as it really is. In other words he is a modernist, a pragmatist and, yes, a committed progressive. He is progressive in terms of wanting to modernise the social model that has brought so much to France but has also resulted in it having twice the British level of unemployment, and created a state of affairs where those who have jobs (substantially those in the public sector) are safe, while those who don’t (substantially young people) find themselves alienated and outside the well-protected and cosy structure of a bygone era. That is why Mr Sarkozy refers so often to Tony Blair and Britain. He understands the formula for ensuring low unemployment, economic stability, growth and the ability to invest in public services over the long term.

His stance in relation to the economy and public spending is that in order to be able to afford substantial public provision and, in particular, income in retirement you have to earn it.

So, what about this “hard man”? I believe that he is an individual who offers a clear way forward, strong leadership and clarity of thought.

Whatever the strengths of Ségolène Royal, and they are many, Mr Sarkozy knows how to take decisions.

He and I reached agreement on the refugee camp known as Sangatte. But, more importantly, we reached agreement about intelligence and immigration services from Britain being placed on French soil. This was a brave act from a patriot. Mr Sarkozy is an anglophile who knew just how far to go and who recognised the benefits that would be gained from sending a strong message to those organised criminals who were trafficking people across Europe to Calais and the French coast.

But to understand Mr Sarkozy it is necessary to understand the impatience that this man has for change, to help people to cope with change but to face it bravely. Here is a man who is able not only to take decisions but is also not frightened to take difficult ones.

He has the strength to face the French nation with questions that they were in the past reluctant to address – the nature of France in the 21st century, its international position, its need to acknowledge globalisation and its impact. And here’s the rub. With Mr Sarkozy as President it may be possible to have an Anglo-French dialogue that will take us back more than 100 years to the Entente Cordiale but in a much more realistic fashion.

And, who knows, if he is able to influence Angela Merkel, a new and better approach to the European Union may emerge rather than a Franco-German hegemony. And, above all, we may begin to create a Europe for decent people that does not tolerate the mind-blowing, energy-sapping bureaucracy that currently bedevils Brussels.

For in my dealings with Mr Sarkozy, privately and publicly, he, like me, was intolerant of time-wasting, irrelevance, the inability to take decisions and, above all, the inability to implement those decisions once made. I believe that, whatever our politics, we can do business with Mr Sarkozy. And I believe from the experience that I have had with him that it will be possible for Britain and France to develop a new understanding that will be significant not only for international relations and foreign policy but also for the future of Europe itself.

— David Blunkett was Work and Pensions Secretary in 2005, Home Secretary between 2001 and 2004, and Secretary of State for Education and Employment between 1997 and 2001. He is the MP for Sheffield, Brightside.

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