France's sixth biggest city - that'd be London - gets to vote

France has created 11 new overseas constituencies for the parliamentary elections on June 10 and 17 - one of which will be South Kensington, in London.

Across the UK, a general election campaign is beginning to gather pace. It may have gone unnoticed but, be assured, canvassing is in full swing; supporters are going door to door and the candidates are engaging in political battles at the hustings.

The second homes, though, are not in the Home Counties, they are in Paris; the Conservative and Labour parties will not win a single seat between them and, instead of eggs, the candidates could find themselves dodging oeufs.

France is going to the polls next month and they are electing the first "MP for South Kensington".

Eleven new overseas constituencies have been created for the coming parliamentary elections, which will take place over two rounds on June 10 and 17, allowing French expatriates to return an MP for the first time. Ten nations, including the UK, are grouped into the "northern Europe" constituency. Figures show that between 300,000 and 400,000 French people live in London, prompting some to call it France's sixth biggest city. And, at more than 120,000, the Gallic community in Britain registered to vote is more than five times larger than those in the other nine countries which make up the constituency.

A large proportion of their number live near the French language school, French consulate and French cultural institute in west London's French stronghold of South Kensington.

The candidates, however, face a big obstacle to getting the vote out. There are plenty of French people to canvass. But, in a constituency which is more than 3.8 million square kilometres they are struggling to find them.

"I feel like I am a backpacker, with my leaflets in one hand and my passport in the other. I feel like a pioneer," said Axelle Lemaire, the candidate put forward by new President Francois Hollande's left-wing Socialist Party.

Her main rival, the centre-right candidate Emmanuelle Savarit, agreed. At a meeting with supporters held last week she implored them to each canvass 10 people, and have them tell 10 people in a bid to get the word out. And the candidates have 10 days until the polls open.

And then there are the everyday problems Anglo-French life poses. At one hustings meeting, Olivier de Chazeaux, a centrist candidate, was forced to send his deputy to speak after he was stuck on a Eurostar train.

Whichever of the 20 candidates wins the seat, they will be expected to be involved in French national politics as well as to represent their constituents' more specific needs. For many expats, those will include help with paperwork and ensuring experience and qualifications gained abroad are properly recognised on their return to France. For others, staving off the new President's mooted tax increases and the removal of benefits for expats will lead the debate.

"A lot of MPs don't know what it is like to live abroad, it is important because our voices sound very different. In London, economically, we have different views to back home. We are more on the front line. Hollande is proposing a tax of 75 per cent and is mentioning that he might or might not tax us, now we'll have someone to represent us," said Jean-Philippe Germain, a 29-year-old Savarit supporter who moved to London five years ago to work for an investment bank.

But Lemaire said she is determined to take some of the lessons she has learned in Britain back home.

"When I look at the Leveson Inquiry, I feel the British Parliamentary inquiry system seems more powerful than in France. There is more accountability and transparency, it is a political and cultural difference, so that is something I think could change," she said.

Despite a campaign spending cap of around £55,000 ($113,000) the candidates intend to travel as much as possible, although most of the campaigning is done by email.

Guillaume Fery, 41, who works for energy firm EDF and has lived in London with his family for two years, warned that the candidates also faced election overload and voter apathy.

"Only a third of French people in the UK actually voted in the presidential election, so are they really that interested?"

- Independent