Downing Street has quickly responded to yesterday's crushing election victory by Jacques Chirac's centre-right coalition, by announcing that Tony Blair will visit the re-elected president for a private dinner on Wednesday. The stated purpose will be to focus on how the two governments can work together.

The French people have certainly given President Chirac an unprecedented level of control over all the country's institutions, and invited him to introduce radical changes to the way they live and work.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the interim Prime Minister, has, as expected, been asked to form the new Government: his calm, unfussy and low-profile approach has won widespread approval.

In all, the parties of the centre-right won 399 seats out of 577 - that's nearly 70% - and M Chirac's own coalition, the UMP, has an overall majority in its own right.

As we hear from the French prime minister's spokesman, Jean -Francois Cope, they still may not get everything their own way.

We also hear from Paris, where our reporter Terry Stiastny has been viewing the new political landscape.

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