Nicolas Sarkozy’s reputation as the candidate who most frightens voters is “a good sign”, according to the centre-right front-runner in France’s presidential race.

Taking pride in his divisive image, Mr Sarkozy has taken to invoking François Mitterrand, the former Socialist president, and his own hero, Charles de Gaulle, claiming that France’s great post-war leaders from both sides of the political spectrum had overcome similar perceptions on their way to the Elysée.