But a bitter rivalry with Jacques Chirac may hamper Nicolas Sarkozy's rise
When popular French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy announced last week that he was standing for leadership of the governing UMP party - which observers think could lead to a bid for the presidency in 2007 - there was little sense of surprise in political circles.
The 49-year-old politician, whose straight-talking and energetic style has won the hearts of many French people, has made no secret of his ambition for the top job.
The question on insiders' minds, however, is does he have the political clout to shake up France's flagging centre-right party and dethrone his arch-rival, Jacques Chirac?
Mr Sarkozy cuts a modern and unconventional figure. Sarko, as he is widely known, is hard-headed, determined and unashamedly ambitious. Preferring action to endless meetings, he is always on the move, organising lunches, visiting trouble spots and crafting television appearances. Mr Sarkozy is the politician who 'gets things done'.
'Nicolas is first and foremost a man of action. He likes simplicity,' said Claude Gueant, head of the cabinet in an interview in Le Monde. 'In that way, he shows a certain degree of modernity.'
Unlike most of France's political elite, Mr Sarkozy did not graduate from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. The son of a Hungarian immigrant, he was brought up by a single mother in a Paris suburb. He trained as a lawyer, working part-time selling flowers and ice cream. From his days as a young mayor in a wealthy Paris suburb to heading the Finance Ministry, Mr Sarkozy's political career has been driven by an unflinching will to succeed.