Margaret Thatcher: Surprise Victor and Washington Post

margaret thatcher: But Fran ois Fillon the surprise victor in the first round of France centre-right presidential primaries is more than an economic conservative, according to Toronto Star. When voters defied all poll predictions by picking Fillon over the other six contenders on the ballot, they backed a veteran politician and former prime minister with a strong social ideology that fits well in 2016 global shift to the right. JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP/Getty Images By James McAuley The The Washington Post Wed., Nov. 23, 2016 PARIS They call him the French Margaret Thatcher, a staunch free-market advocate in a dogged crusade against economic stagnation. Like Donald Trump, Fillon has made no secret of his fondness for Vladimir Putin Russia, arguing in favour of a Western coalition with Russia to fight Daesh also known as ISIS . Also like Trump, a central component of his campaign has been antagonism to Muslims, France largest minority group. In the early 1980s, he opposed decriminalizing homosexuality, and he has fought same-sex equality ever since. And like Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, France own far-right populist party, Fillon appeals to those nostalgic for a white, Catholic France that they remember as devoid of immigrants and sexual minorities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.