Abstract
In 2007, the Socialist Party selected a woman to contest the presidential election. This paper looks at whether or not this brought about a new gender gap in voting behaviour. The question is all the more relevant as Ségolène Royal clearly made ‘strategic use’ of gender in the campaign. Drawing on two surveys conducted before and after the 2007 presidential election, answers to this question will be presented. The data illustrate both a gender and a generational effect which reinforced and built on each other at the polling station. Ségolène Royal won over the youngest section of the electorate of both sexes though her electoral strength was even greater among young women than among young men. Among older voters, on the other hand, more women than men voted for the UMP candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy.
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