Anne Hidalgo not a candidate for a third term in Paris: in her camp, who could succeed her?

“I will not run for a third term.” The rumor has been buzzing for months, it is now confirmed: Anne Hidalgo announced this Tuesday, November 26 in an interview with Monde that she would not run in the 2026 municipal elections in Paris, a city of which she has been mayor since 2014. The socialist councilor indicates that she “always committed to the idea that two mandates were enough to bring about profound changes” and now wishes to hand over the reins. But his succession promises to be stormy; the function attracts and fuels ambitions. Within the left-wing coalition that runs the town hall, made up of socialists, ecologists and communists, several candidacies have already been launched.

However, Anne Hidalgo has a very precise idea of ​​who she would like to see succeed her. “Out of respect for the Parisians, I wanted to announce (my decision) sufficiently early and at a time which allows us to prepare a calm transmission to support a team, in this case led by Rémi Féraud”she indicates. “He is the one who will be able to carry our history and reinvent a future for Paris.” Il “has the vocation to become the next mayor of Paris”she assures, therefore endorsing the former mayor of the 10th arrondissement of the capital, president of the majority group in the Council of Paris, and socialist senator since 2017.

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Before Rémi Féraud, it was Emmanuel Grégoire, former first deputy elected socialist deputy last June, who took on the role of heir to Anne Hidalgo. If the latter considers that it “made the choice to go to the National Assembly to take up the fight against the extreme right” and that“you can’t be a candidate for everything”he does not intend to give up his place since he declared himself a candidate last week. “To ease tensions, to continue the essential transformations, I want to be the mayor of the reconciliation of Parisians”he told AFP. He already said he benefited from the support of 450 socialist activists from the Paris federation because he was “best placed” in their eyes to win “faced with the risk of a hard right”.

A primary to decide between them?

In the process, another Parisian elected official came out of silence: the communist senator and former housing deputy Ian Brossat. “Either the mayor decides to run again and the union will be built around her, or she decides not to run again and the question of leadership on the left will open up”observed the co-president of the communist group at the Paris Council. In which case “I'm available”he added to AFP. “I am a possible candidate, but the question is not whether to choose a socialist, a communist or an environmentalist but who is best to lead us to victory”he added.

Union, they all agree, but how to achieve it? Is primary education the solution? “It will be up to the Parisian socialist activists to decide,” estimates Anne Hidalgo in the columns of Mondeensuring that she “decided” you're welcome and “does not impose anything”.

Emmanuel Grégoire also said he was ready to submit to “verdict of socialist activists” on his application. To do this, would we have to reckon with environmentalists, an essential component of the Parisian majority, even if at present no one has declared themselves? The deputy in charge of the transformation of public space and transport, David Belliard, or the environmentalist senator from Paris Yannick Jadot could be interested.

Battles also in the other camps

What is certain is that none of the above-mentioned people will want to form an alliance with La France insoumise, which could present MP Sophia Chikirou. In the presidential camp, the seat could be disputed between the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, the former minister Clément Beaune or the head of the Ensemble pour la République deputies and former Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal. The co-president of the right-wing Union Capitale group Pierre-Yves Bournazel is also a candidate, and the Republican right could be represented by Senator Francis Szpiner.