French elections: More sex please, we're extremists

Supporters of the far-right National Front led by Marine Le Pen (pictured) are the most sexually active voters in France (AFP)

Everything in France is political, even sex. Hot Video may not be the best-known political magazine in France but it has found an intriguing slant on next month's elections. President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right supporters have less sex than voters for his Socialist rival, François Hollande, the magazine reports.

It has also uncovered a paradox that could explain why so many French voters are attracted to extremes. The most sexually active – but also the most sexually frustrated – voters tend to support the anti-capitalist parties of the hard left and the xenophobic parties of the far right, Hot Video says.

Supporters of the far-right National Front led by Marine Le Pen are the most sexually active voters in France, averaging eight sexual encounters a month and 10 sexual partners over their lives. Backers of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the extreme leftist, are slightly less active, with 7.7 encounters a month and nine partners. The figures come from a poll of 1,400 voters conducted for Hot Video by Ifop, a highly reputable polling organisation.

François Kraus of Ifop told The Independent on Sunday: "Voters of the extreme parties may have more sex and more partners, but they seem to have less stable relationships – which may explain why they are also frustrated and angry in their politics."