Sleepless in South Kensington as London's French community agonises over vote A lot of people are unsure who to vote for. They are following the discussions very closely. As if on cue, a woman ordering a slab of brie turns and raises her arms in theatrical horror. "I have no idea who I will vote for, none at all," she says. Sarkozy is so vulgar - he is not well read, he is rude and has no manners, and is not an intellectual like our previous presidents. We are really not proud of him. But at least he is proactive. He is making France an international force to be reckoned with, and not just living on in our beautiful past. She pauses, weighing up her options and stuffing her brie into her bag. "Actually - I will maybe vote for him after all," she said, and bustled out of the shop, trailing her silk scarf in the breeze. There are only three weeks until the French go to the polls for the first round of a hotly-contested election. The latest surveys showed Mr Sarkozy, from the UMP party, just edging ahead of his Socialist rival, with 30 per cent of voters saying they would pick Mr Sarkozy and 26 per cent choosing Mr Hollande. A week ago the poll put the two men almost neck and neck. The four polls all still predicted Mr Hollande would win the May 6 second round, but showed that Mr Sarkozy was narrowing the Socialist's lead. And in London, often described as "Paris-on-Thames" for its huge numbers of French residents, the debate is heating up. The French outnumber most other Western European nations in London - there are estimated to be around 200,000 Spaniards, but only around 60,000 Germans in the British capital. Over 70,000 French voters are registered in London, and Emmanuelle Savarit, the UMP's delegate in London, is pounding the streets to strengthen support for Mr Sarkozy's re-election. "He is simply the best person to do the job," she told The Sunday Telegraph, sipping a Perrier in a smart Kensington hotel. So many people point out what he has not managed to achieve in the past few years, but they forget what he has done. He has raised the age of retirement, and he has encouraged business. He has been a successful President of Europe, and led France through the financial crisis. It has not been easy, as austerity measures are not ever going to be popular. But he has achieved a huge amount, and will achieve more. If Mr Sarkozy's has transformed France and improved the country to such an extent, then why are so many French still living in London? She laughed. "People have built their lives here," she said. Some have gone back, but most French, in a time of global financial crisis, do not want to rock the boat by leaving their homes and jobs here. Besides, we love London. You have the best range and quality of restaurants in the world, and the weather is great. Miss Savarit, a 39-year-old entrepreneur with a PhD in psychology, is also campaigning for herself. Having lived in London for 18 years, the chic mother-of-two is hoping to be France's first "MP for Britain" in the June parliamentary elections. Mr Sarkozy has approved plans to create 11 new constituencies around the world to represent the French diaspora, with the MPs having identical status to their colleagues in France and the same voting rights in Paris. Italy is the only other European country to run a similar system. Miss Savarit's constitution of "Europe Nord" includes Britain, Ireland, Scandanavia and the Baltic states - but London, often referred to as "France's sixth largest city," is indubitably the focus of the campaign. "It's true that some of the French voters I meet regularly were initially sceptical about Mr Sarkozy's re-election," she said. But now they are beginning to realise it is for the best. Francois Hollande would bankrupt France. He wants to increase the number of civil servants and teachers, while he attacks finance and business. It's impossible! Outside The French Bookshop - the oldest such shop in London - Pierre, 47, a financier, agreed. "If Hollande is elected it will be a nightmare," he said with a shudder. He will ruin France. Ruin it. His policies will turn the country into 1970s Soviet Union, stopping all forms of enterprise and driving away business. Pierre, like so many of his colleagues, he said, left Paris because he was "fed up" with the city. He claimed that it was difficult raising three young children in a capital he describes as "polluted, unfriendly, aggressive and dirty." In London, he felt safer and more appreciated. "In France if you make money you are seen as a traitor to the nation," he said. It is not a country that is pro-business - even with Sarkozy. And although I support Sarkozy, I don't think he has a clear economic strategy. He has been too shy with his reforms, and not rolled back the 35-hour working week or broken the blockage of the unions. We don't have as good politicians in France as David Cameron and the Miliband brothers. A few yards away down Bute Street - known as "Frog Alley" for its predominance of French shops - Sonia Fitoussi, a photographer, said she would also be voting for Mr Sarkozy. He gets my vote because he is a good international leader. In London, you see that better than in France, perhaps. I think he is strong. Hollande is not. Mr Sarkozy has made much of his international credentials, campaigning on the concept that his strong working relationship with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is worth preserving. He has also used the Toulouse shootings earlier this month to hammer home his favourite topics of law and order, security and crime. Some of the French in London said that they felt Paris was unsafe; Miss Savarit, however, claimed that crime in Paris has declined under Mr Sarkozy. But for Melody, 27, a shop assistant at Librarie La Page, Mr Sarkozy has not served France well. She refused to say how she would vote, but acknowledged that many of her friends had left France after Mr Sarkozy's election. "I think Francois Hollande has done very well," she said, sorting out souffle cookbooks and tomes by French philosopher Michel Onfray. He has changed his image and is coming across as a dignified and thoughtful politician. Campaigning on Mr Hollande's behalf is Axelle Lemaire, a 36-year-old lawyer. Armed with an electoral register, GPS system and bicycle, she has been pedalling the streets of London to meet French voters face-to-face and travelling throughout her prospective constituency. "People are increasingly ready to trust him," she told The Sunday Telegraph. There is a very strong anti-Sarkozy feeling, and we now need to convince voters of the credibility of Mr Hollande's programme. But that must surely be difficult, given that London's French community is characterised by wealthy financiers who fear his programme of higher taxation? "Not all French people living in London work in banks," she said. But it is true that in London we do have to talk a lot about the economy. If you look at his manifesto, the 75 per cent tax will only affect earnings over a million euros - so that will only involve about 3,000 people out of 65 million. And people forget that under Sarkozy the public debt has doubled, if you take into account his whole period in government first as finance minister then ultimately as president. We are having a serious debate with voters. But it is with figures and precise ideas, not false promises. Mr Hollande came to London last month to raise his profile and woo French voters. But unfortunately for the Socialists, it does not seem to have had a huge impact. Typical was Gerard, 45, an electricity trader, drinking a latte outside the French bakery chain, Paul. "Sarkozy promised to make the country better, but I don't think anything has changed much," he said. We're all pretty disillusioned now. But then Hollande is even worse, and would probably send more businesses and more French to London if he wins. "I don't like Sarkozy," he said. But I'll probably vote for him.