Status: 23.10.2021 8:09 p.m.
Now it is official: The Mayor of Paris, Hidalgo, will run as the French Socialist candidate in the 2022 presidential election. The decision in favor of the 62-year-olds was made at the party congress in Lille.
France’s socialists have now officially entered the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, as a candidate for the presidential election next April. The 62-year-old was elected as a candidate at a party congress in Lille. Just over a week ago, in a vote with around three quarters of the votes, it prevailed within the party.
Hidalgo has been the mayor of the French capital since 2014. She was born into a Spanish working class family. In front of hundreds of supporters, she named social justice and climate protection as topics of her presidency. She wants to stand up for those who are under the radar, strengthen unions, partially cap rents and create general unemployment insurance.
Polls see Macron ahead
In current surveys, Hidalgo has 4 to 5.5 percent approval and thus significantly less than a few weeks ago. When Hidalgo announced her will to run for office a month ago, the polls saw her at around eight percent.
The right-wing populist journalist Éric Zemmour can look forward to significantly more popularity. Although he is not a declared candidate, he is said to have corresponding ambitions. In some surveys, he even came in second with 15 to 17 percent approval and thus just overtook the presidential candidate of the extreme right-wing Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen. At the top of the polls, with around 23 to 27 percent, is the incumbent head of state, Emmanuel Macron.
In all likelihood, the result of the presidential election will only fall in a runoff election. For a long time, polls had indicated another duel between Le Pen and Macron.