As if the family of Nicolas Sarkozy was in need of any more public exposure, 21-year-old Jean, the president’s son, launched his own campaign for office last week in the constituency where the French leader began his rise to power three decades ago.

“The rise of the dauphin”, as some were calling this latest episode of the “Sarko show”, came just as France was getting over the excitement of Sarkozy’s marriage to Carla Bruni, the Italian supermodel and singer, who replaced Cécilia, the president’s errant second wife, as first lady on February 2.

“He’s a brave boy,” was how Sarkozy described his son last week while on a visit to France’s industrial north. “I’m rather proud of the way he’s coping.”

One of two sons from Sarkozy’s first marriage to Marie-Dominique Culioli, the daughter of a Corsican chemist, Jean is running for election in a “canton” – the smallest administrative segment in France – in south Neuilly, the affluent Parisian suburb which his father used as a springboard to power after serving as mayor there for two decades.

Jean admitted last week that he has “things to prove” in the election next month and acknowledged getting advice from his father. “He told me to be myself and assume my responsibilities,” he said.

The long blond locks and angelic smile may belie a ruthless streak: there was a smell of scorched earth in Jean’s wake as Arnaud Teullé, a loyal Sarkozy supporter and local election candidate, obediently stepped aside to allow the president’s son to get his foot on the first rung of the political ladder.

“I’m a good soldier,” said Teullé, “and totally devoted to he to whom I owe everything in politics.” This was a reference to the older Sarkozy.

Jean would be unlucky to lose: the region is one of the wealthiest in France and strongly supportive of Sarkozy’s UMP party. As Chris-tophe Grébert, a Socialist militant in the constituency, put it: “If the UMP candidate were a hamster, it would be elected.”

Jean can be expected to go far in Neuilly: he is said to possess a telegenic charm to go with his good looks. Some observers claimed his mannerisms were similar to those of the hyper-active president, a Hungarian immigrant’s son whose efforts to modernise France through economic reforms have met with complaints about his flashy style and love of “le bling bling”.

A popular satirical television programme that lampoons politicians with rubber dolls represented Jean with the same puppet that it uses for “Sarko”, albeit with a mane of blond hair. He has been ridiculed elsewhere as a “tête à claques” – “the face you want to slap”.

Jean first hit the news in October 2005 when he accidentally drove into the back of a BMW on his scooter. He sped off but, unluckily for him, the driver had noted his number plate. The trial is pending. He has been a regular jogging partner of his father and, like Pierre, his elder brother, a rap producer, has accompanied him on various missions, some of them overseas. As part of the presidential entourage he has met numerous celebrities and foreign politicians such as Tony Blair and may accompany the president and Bruni on a state visit to Britain next month, when they will be guests of the Queen at Windsor Castle.

The president, whose approval rating has fallen disastrously in recent weeks – it was at its lowest ebb of 39% last week – may be hoping for a “bounce” from his son’s political debut. The habit of mixing family and politics has begun to backfire on him, however.

When he tried to parachute David Martinon, his chief press officer and a friend of Cécilia, his former wife, into Neuilly as a mayoral candidate in next month’s elections, it provoked a revolt by party followers. They complained that Martinon was not up to it.

Among those who rose up against Martinon was Jean, who had originally backed him with the words: “I support David Martinon to the death.” The apparent betrayal resulted in a cartoon showing Jean on the shoulders of his father stabbing Martinon in the back. “Is that how you do it, Papa?” said the bubble.

Bruni did not take kindly to a report recently on a French magazine’s website that Sarkozy had sent a text message to Cécilia eight days before his marriage offering to “cancel everything” if she came back to him.

Apparently there was no reply from Cécilia, who divides her time between Neuilly, London and New York and is the mother of Louis, Sarkozy’s third son. She has confessed to being in love with Richard Attias, a Moroccan-born events organiser, whom she is expected to marry next month in America.

Sarkozy is suing the magazine for “forgery” and “receiving stolen goods” and the journalist who wrote the article was last week being questioned by police. It emerged yesterday that Cécilia will also be summoned for questioning about the text.

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