THE woman who might be the next French president seems almost dazzled by her good fortune. “I am very proud. It is marvellous to be operating at this political level,” Ségolène Royal told The Times.

The darling of the opinion polls and early left-wing favourite for the election next spring is flattered that even Bernadette Chirac sees her as a good possible successor to her Gaullist husband. “I am not refusing any compliments,” said Mme Royal, her blue eyes flashing the smile that has charmed much of France.

Ségolène, as France knows the elegant Socialist mother of four, was reviewing her stardom from a second-class seat in a train taking her back to Paris from Poitiers, her base as president of the Poitou-Charentes region. France, like Germany, is now ready for a woman leader, she said.

She believes that she has touched something in the national mood. “But opinion polls are not the vote,” she added. “Ahead lies a long road strewn with traps.”

The latest poll, by Paris Match this week, showed that 70 per cent of the French approve of Mme Royal, putting her well ahead of all other likely candidates.

A fan of Tony Blair in a party that abhors him as a conservative, Mme Royal feels that she has the fresh ideas needed to lead France out of its decline.

Madame la Présidente, as they call her in Poitiers, is a pragmatic and plain-spoken exception among politicians who prefer to comfort the wounded Gallic soul. She is conservative on crime but still very much a leftist. However, a day out with her shows that le phénomène Ségolène is a Blair-like blend of hard ambition, charisma and acting talent.

Mme Royal, who looks a decade younger than her 52 years, started off Women’s Day at a sex education class in a lycée where she was greeted like a rock star. The subject made her famous when she was Schools Minister and introduced free morning-after pills for schoolgirls. With her manner of a jolly but firm school prefect, she later exhorted local women to “just go for it” in a male-run business world. “Women too often underestimate themselves,” she said. Colleagues may underestimate Mme Royal, one of an army officer’s eight children — she does not. She is campaigning hard to use her popularity to win her party’s nomination.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister and likely centre-right candidate, believes that the presidential race will be a duel between him and “that beautiful woman”, as he calls Mme Royal. Polls show them neck-and-neck, well ahead of rivals.

The Socialist old guard are appalled that their chance at glory may be stolen by a woman who held only junior ministerial posts and whom they always patronised as a lightweight. Adding to the piquancy is that François Hollande, leader of the party for the past eight years and also a presidential hopeful, is her partner and father of her children.

Mme Royal plays down what must be a difficult time at home on the Left Bank. “François Hollande has not made his decision yet,” she said. “He will say at the time who is best placed and if I am not in the best position then I will support someone else.”

Laurent Fabius, Jack Lang and other Socialists hope that her ascent is a media-made flash in the pan. M Jospin, who retired after his defeat by M Chirac in 2002, is angling for the candidacy and hopes to harness the “Stop Ségolène” wave.

Mme Royal, who served in her late 20s as an adviser to François Mitterrand, mocks what she calls the sexism of the Socialist hopefuls. “They are machos — and they are frightened of losing a monopoly.”