The municipal elections are in three years and yet the negotiations have already started, especially in Paris. Emmanuel Grégoire, Anne Hidalgo’s first assistant is biding his time and getting ready. Jean-Rémi Baudot’s political brief
“There will never be opposition between Anne and me. Our destinies are linked.” Sitting in his office at the Hôtel de Ville, Emmanuel Grégoire, first Deputy Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, seems to be counting the days. Still some 1,000 before the next municipal elections.
The elected Parisian says to himself “serene”, “loyal” but “determined”. He no longer makes a mystery of his ambitions. He launched a micro-party, “Grand Paris”, to finance his future campaign. He is preparing a program, talking about adapting the city to global warming… Everything is falling into place.
All that is missing is a small detail: the dubbing of the outgoing mayor or at least the confirmation that Anne Hidalgo will not seek a third term at the head of the capital. “I let his decision mature”declares Emmanuel Grégoire cautiously, while affirming, sure of himself: “She won’t show up.”
Anne Hidalgo repeats in private that she has not made a decision
But did Anne Hidalgo really plan to let go of the town hall of Paris? In the corridors of the Town Hall, no one ventures this type of assertion. Was Anne Hidalgo only shocked by her 1.7% presidential vote? Did she doubt? Many see it as unsinkable. Unshakeable… Did she plan to let go of her post? Emmanuel Grégoire hopes so…
In private, Anne Hidalgo repeats: “I haven’t made up my mind, I’m going to do three years thoroughly.” The mayor of Paris knows very well that the day she announces that she is handing over, she risks losing all her power. So in the meantime, his first deputy, is therefore ready and tries to gain notoriety. While knowing that one day, he will have to cut the cord. The real difficulty is that today, the left-wing majority on the Paris council remains united, despite the tensions, because Anne Hidalgo maintains her majority under pressure.
In Paris, no Nupes agreement in sight
Except that the municipal elections of 2026 will reshuffle the cards. Don’t talk about New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) in Paris. After nearly 25 years of socialist rule, environmentalists think their time has come. Same thing for La France insoumise.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon obtained 30% of the votes in the capital. And although the latter calls for common lists for Europeans, and claiming that otherwise there will be none in the municipal elections, his relatives play it solo. This week, in the voice of the deputy for Paris Sophia Chikirou, LFI promised a “break” with the Hidalgo era.
Three years from the election, everyone advances their pawns. The right like the Macronists also believe in it. So in the event that Anne Hidalgo does not return there, it will take a lot of political weight for Emmanuel Grégoire to imagine bringing together the left behind his name.