Ségolène Royal is a French politician. She She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes region, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government ministers, and a prominent member of the Socialist Party. On 16 November 2006, Socialist Party members elected her as their candidate for the 2007 French presidential election. Nicolas Sarkozy was elected on May 6, 2007 and Royal lost the election. She is known for her admiration for some "Third Way" policies, for her controversial insistence on law and order issues and for her support of devolution and participatory democracy.