Hidalgo, Paris's First Female Mayor, Challenges for French Presidency

(Photo by AFP)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Anne Hidalgo, the first female mayor of Paris, has officially declared her candidacy to become France's first female president.

On the 12th (local time), according to Politico and others, Mayor Hidalgo made the announcement during her campaign speech at a shipyard in Rouen, located in the northwest of France, a region governed by the Socialist Party.

Mayor Hidalgo, a member of the Socialist Party (PS) representing the left-wing camp, was first elected as the female mayor of Paris in 2014 and successfully secured re-election.

In her campaign speech, she pledged to "build a fairer France." She introduced her background as coming from a working-class family that immigrated from Spain and expressed her hope that children would have the same opportunities as she did.

Mayor Hidalgo also stated that her greatest concern is transitioning to a low-carbon economy and criticized President Macron for not fulfilling his climate change promises. Recently, she lowered the speed limit for cars driving in Paris to 30 km/h to reduce air pollution and noise pollution.

However, her chances of winning the first round of the presidential election scheduled for April next year are currently considered low.

According to Politico, President Macron, who is expected to form a two-horse race in this election, currently has an estimated vote share of 24%, leading Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), by 1 percentage point.

Mayor Hidalgo's estimated vote share is 8%, ranking fifth behind centrist-right candidate Xavier Bertrand and left-wing party leader Jean-Luc M?lenchon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.