Antoine Terrel with Jacques Serais 2:05 p.m., September 12, 2021

After several months of true-false suspense, Anne Hidalgo has formalized her candidacy for the next presidential election.

But the mayor of Paris remains for the moment behind in the polls, and must also face the multiplication of candidates on the left. 

TO ANALYSE

For many weeks now, his ambitions for 2022 had become an open secret.

Sunday, Anne Hidalgo put an end to the suspense by formalizing her candidacy for the next presidential election.

Launching into the race for the Elysee from Rouen, the Socialist said she was "ready".

But the mayor of Paris, who has not yet taken off in the polls, will have to beef up her game in the coming weeks, while trying to establish herself as the essential candidacy of a fragmented left. 

Because currently, Anne Hidalgo is far from being the favorite in the polls, being credited with only 7 to 9% of the voting intentions.

This is less than Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who exceeds the 10% mark, and barely more than an environmental candidate such as Yannick Jadot.

His book will be published on Wednesday

But Anne Hidalgo intends to create a certain dynamic.

First with the release on Wednesday of his autobiographical book entitled 

Une femme française

, and with the PS congress in a week, during which the party should endorse support for his candidacy.

It is therefore for Anne Hidalgo a pivotal moment to try to impose itself in this left-wing landscape completely saturated with contenders for the Elysee.

She who won her re-election as mayor of Paris by allying with environmentalists and communists wants to renew the operation, this time for France.

But Paris is not France ... And even if such an alliance were organized, Anne Hidalgo would not succeed in winning according to the polls, even against Marine Le Pen.

"She will be able to bring together the French on the left"

Anne Hidalgo, who has increased the number of trips to France for several months, will also have to continue to try to remedy a possible deficit of notoriety outside the Ile-de-France.

But on the side of his supporters, it is considered that these remarks on his too "Parisian" profile are unjustified.

"Anne Hidalgo already embodies the image of France", assures Sébastien Vincini, PS mayor of Cintegabelle, in Haute-Garonne, at the microphone of Europe 1.

Still, the multiplication of candidates on the left could pose a problem by dispersing the votes in the first round. "We are seven months from the deadline", eludes Sébastien Vincini. "I believe that the campaign officially started today. We were waiting for this candidacy, it is a relief, a pride", he insists, assuring that this announcement is "received with enthusiasm". "We know, a presidential election crystallizes around the months of February-March (...) by then, it will bring together the French and the French left," he says.