Nicolas Sarkozy formally declared his hand for the French presidency last night, setting the stage for a duel with Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate whose campaign is already eclipsing him in the opinion polls.

Mr Sarkozy, the Interior Minister and leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), promised a radical break with the usual ways of French leadership if he is elected in May. This rupture would make France a model again.

“I have the ambition to create a new relationship with the French that rests on two words — confidence and respect,” he said in interviews with regional newspapers.

Mr Sarkozy promised to bring France closer to the United States and restore incentives for people to work. He played down fears that he would curb the country’s generous welfare state: “I think the State and public services must not be condemned to impotence. They have their role in the modern society that I want to build.”

The UMP is expected to confirm the candidacy of Mr Sarkozy on January 14.

After dominating the political landscape, Mr Sarkozy has been thrown on the defensive in recent months by France’s love affair with Ms Royal and her unconventional campaign via the internet and media. She has again attempted to upstage him by leaving today on a trip to the trouble spots of the Middle East.

In keeping with the fumbles that have lately dogged his campaign, Mr Sarkozy’s announcement was leaked by national media before this morning’s planned publication. He had wanted to avoid overshadowing the 74th birthday of President Chirac, with whom he has been feuding for the past decade.

Mr Chirac has been trying to thwart Mr Sarkozy’s presidential ambitions for years and has toyed in public with the idea of standing for a third term — a move insiders say is highly unlikely. Mr Sarkozy faces a possible challenge from two of Mr Chirac’s protégés, Dominique de Villepin, the Prime Minister, and Michèle Alliot-Marie, the Defence Minister.

In making his announcement — a solemn ritual in French politics — to the provincial media, Mr Sarkozy had hoped to reach the audience that Ms Royal has so effectively courted. He even borrowed some of Ms Royal’s slogans, promising to restore a “just order” to French society and talking of “imagining the future”.

Mr Sarkozy compared his experience to Ms Royal’s limited duties in government as a junior minister. “I have been in charge of the security of France for four and a half years. That requires a lot of experience and skill. I want to put this at the service of France,” he said.

Although Sego and Sarko are expected to win through to a run-off in the elections, at least a dozen candidates are expected to stand in the first round in April. One of them, Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the National Front, stands a chance of knocking out one of the front runners, according to polls.

Opinion polls put Ms Royal ahead of Mr Sarkozy by up to five points in a notional run-off, but an Ipsos poll published yesterday suggested that 47 per cent of voters thought that neither candidates represented their concerns. Mr Sarkozy could draw comfort from the fact that 42 per cent of voters thought that he had more presidential qualities, compared with 41 per cent for Ms Royal.

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