Paris’ up and coming mayoral race is an all-female mayor race.
Paris elections are coming up. All of the Paris Mayor candidates are women.
Socialist Anne Hidalgo expected to become first female mayor of Paris.
By the end of the month – barring a physical or political earthquake – Paris will have its first Madame le Maire.
2020 Paris municipal election dates: 15 March 2020 (first round) – 22 March 2020 (second round)
If the polls are accurate, the Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo will get the keys to Paris mayoral office at the French capital.
Despite official figures showing that 80% of French women (compared with 40% in 1962) are working in 2014, and that 56% of students are female, and despite parity laws, women are far from equally represented in politics, making the Paris race something of an anomaly.
Whomever wins the mayoral election will have the “2024 Paris Olympics.
Candidates profiles:
The Harpist vs the Heiress
Anne Hidalgo, 54
Current job: Deputy mayor of Paris
Nicknames: La dauphine (the heiress), “that woman with the dark hair” (former first lady Bernadette Chirac).
Campaign slogan: Oser Paris! (A Paris that Dares)
Born: San Fernando, Spain
Family: Parents moved to Lyon in 1961 when she was just two. Adult son and daughter from her first marriage; a 12-year-old son from her second.
Education and career: Graduated in social sciences and law, held a series of ministerial offices under the former Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin. Became deputy mayor in 2001.
Campaign promises: An “investment programme” of €8.5bn (£7bn) in the city but no increases in taxes. Building 10,000 new homes a year, of which 6,500 will be council housing. Better public transport, and more green spaces. Speed limit of 30kph (19mph) on the grands boulevards and avenues. Closing the city to diesel vehicles by 2020. A free moped system called Scooterlib’, modelled on the public bicycle Vélib’ system and the electric car sharing service Autolib’. Extending the metro. Adding 5,000 new creche places.
Quote: “Paris is still my city of dreams. I will never leave here. And being mayor of Paris is the best elected job that exists.” (Observer, June 2013)
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, 40
Current job: MP
Nicknames: The harpist, “Madame Condescendante” (Bertrand Delanoë), “L’emmerdeuse” (Pain in the neck – Jacques Chirac)
Campaign slogan: Une nouvelle énergie pour les Parisiens (A new energy for Parisians)
Born: Paris
Family: Daughter of a local mayor, granddaughter of a former French ambassador and great-granddaughter of one of the founder members of the French Communist party. Married with two sons aged nine and four.
Education and career: Went to private Catholic school, then the elite Louis-le-Grand Lycée followed by the even more elite École Polytechnique, where she qualified as an engineer. In 2002 she became an MP. In 2007 she was made a secretary of state for ecology and in 2010 was promoted to minister for ecology, sustainable development, transport and housing, one of the top cabinet posts. She was Nicolas Sarkozy’s spokeswoman during his unsuccessful 2012 re-election campaign. Accused of being “parachuted” into Paris, where she does not live, for the mayoral contest.
Campaign promises: Reducing the number of city fonctionnaires (civil servants) to save €225m by 2020. Pedestrianising areas in the city centre, reinforcing police and security. Combating aggressive and organised begging. Banning the most polluting vehicles, especially lorries and tourist buses. Allowing council tenants to buy their home. Building 10,000 new homes a year (half as public housing, half for the “middle classes”). Extending the Metro until 2am during the week.
“PARIS” by Morgan Rees:
Watch or listen to “PARIS” by Morgan Rees is part of a continuing series of videos and Blogs. Visit the Senine River cruise, Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, France’s oldest perfume houses, The Louvre: da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Royal Estate of Versailles, Moulin Rouge, Claude Monet and much more. Find out what to do, where to go and eat in PARIS. Ideas for your trip with useful traveller information.
http://www.morganrees.com/podcasts#paris
http://www.morganrees.com/videos#paris
www.morganrees.com/videos
www.morganrees.com/podcasts
www.morganrees.com
