Senior figures within the UMP even appealed to Mr Sarkozy to intervene with a public statement or article in their support. In what many saw as a swing to the Right to capitalise on the popularity of the FN, and a group of 40 UMP politicians – lead by Henri Guaino, Mr Sarkozy's former chief adviser and a committed "sovereigntist" – signed an open letter published by Le Figaro saying they wanted to "change everything" in Europe.