Emmanuel Grégoire candidate in Paris to replace Anne Hidalgo

POLITICS – It was an open secret, it’s now official. This Tuesday, November 19, the former first deputy mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, announced that he was running as a candidate to succeed Anne Hidalgo for the 2026 municipal elections. “To ease tensions, to continue the essential transformations, I want to be the mayor of the reconciliation of Parisians in this city”he declared to AFP, accompanying his media offensive with an interview with Parisian and a morning show on Franceinfo.

« I warned Anne Hidalgo of this decision, and she did not respond to my message,” he continued, even though it is common knowledge that the current deputy for Paris and the socialist councilor have been at odds for several weeks, precisely because of the upcoming municipal elections. “I am not breaking with what we did collectively in Paris. Simply, I will bring my touch, my experience and also what I believe to be good to make this city work and reconcile Parisians”he continued, aiming to be a candidate of “ gathering on the left », without allying with rebellious France.

« There was a very significant conflict of values ​​with Jean-Luc Mélenchon and it seems insurmountable to me », justified Emmanuel Grégoire, citing in particular the reaction of the rebels following the October 7 attack on Israel and emphasizing in passing that the Mélenchonist troops are currently in opposition in Paris.

According to our information, this application has been prepared for a long time. To the point that the PS deputy has been working for several weeks to lead an underground campaign by increasing the number of meetings with those on the ground. Emmanuel Grégoire is also supported by 450 Parisian socialist activists.

War of succession?

“We want, for tomorrow, a Paris that protects against real estate speculation, which continues to transform. A city that invests massively in our children's schools, which ensures quality health for all. A Paris that makes adaptation to climate change a priority, while continuing to invest massively in everyday public services”they write in a call sent to AFP, in which they say “ convinced that Emmanuel Grégoire is best placed, within the socialist family and more broadly on the left, to carry this project in the face of the risk of a hard right ».

It is no coincidence that the person concerned, who assures that his candidacy will have to be validated by socialist activists, is coming out of the woods now. For several days, the prospect of a fratricidal struggle for the succession of the current mayor of Paris has been growing. November 11 in The Parisianit was the socialist senator Rémi Féraud who said he was ready, claiming to have received the support of Anne Hidalgo. However, for many years, it was Emmanuel Grégoire who was perceived as the natural heir apparent to the Parisian councilor who, for his part, continues to maintain the vagueness around a possible third candidacy.

« Our feeling is that she will not leave again », bet with the HuffPost a close friend of Emmanuel Grégoire, justifying the underground work of the Parisian deputy. But then, how can we explain the breakup between Anne Hidalgo and her former heir apparent? The answer lies in one name: Olivier Faure. During the legislative elections, Emmanuel Grégoire teamed up with the current first secretary of the PS to run in a Parisian constituency, under the colors of the New Popular Front. A the casualty of war for Anne Hidalgo, who judges Olivier Faure responsible for his failure in the 2022 presidential election and who, moreover, rejects any alliance with LFI, even if she ended up supporting the union of the left in the face of the RN danger.

Hence this preference, from now on, for Rémi Féraud. But without undermining the determination of the spokesperson for the socialist group in the Assembly. “ In the end, it will be the socialist activists who will decide. In the meantime, Emmanuel Grégoire continues to prepare very seriously », recently explained those around him to HuffPost. He is now officially in the race.

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