Lille (AFP)

A month and a half after declaring herself a candidate in Rouen, the mayor of Paris is vegetating in the voting intentions, around 4 to 7%, demoted behind the ecologist Yannick Jadot and the rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

While two-thirds of left-wing supporters say they want their camp to join forces in the first round, according to an Ipsos poll for Le Parisien and franceinfo, Anne Hidalgo must now convince that she can create a dynamic, within six months of the presidential election, after a "low noise" start to the campaign.

"We are around 5%, it's an alert. I see that the left is in confetti (...) With six or seven candidates, there is no left possible in the second round. Anne Hidalgo is the the only one capable of bringing together ", assures Senator Patrick Kanner.

In Lille, the mayor of Paris will be officially invested by the Socialist Party, whose 22,000 activists preferred her to the mayor of Le Mans Stéphane Le Foll.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and candidate for the 2022 presidential election delivers a speech at Paris city hall on October 18, 2021 Thomas SAMSON AFP

A thousand people are expected in the stronghold of his mentor Martine Aubry, who will be present, as will many elected socialists - including his "France team of mayors", a new generation of elected PS quadra or fifties who constitute his guard close-up, as well as personalities from civil society.

PS heavyweights are announced, but not François Hollande.

The former head of state, very critical of the fragmentation of the left and its "Lilliputian" candidacies, assures us, however, that he will vote for her.

Anne Hidalgo will make her first real campaign speech, which will allow her to give her vision of France and its priorities, some of which she has already outlined: purchasing power, revaluation of wages, defense of the middle and working classes, transition ecological, health, republican promise and education.

"Confrontation"

The candidate had been widely criticized on her first proposal to double the salaries of teachers, deemed unrealistic by her competitors.

"This is not a categorical measure, it is a measure to put the school back in the middle of the village, a measure of social justice and public service," insists Socialist Senator Rémi Feraud.

She maintained it Thursday on franceinfo, judging it "quite" achievable over a five-year term, and promised to unveil "soon" "strong proposals" for "the first on duty", including caregivers.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and candidate for the 2022 presidential election at a summit organized by the Federation Francaise du Batiment - FFB in Paris on October 21, 2021 STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

"This is the time to initiate the confrontation in the face of the excesses of the far right and in the face of Emmanuel Macron's record. We must talk about purchasing power, questions of the daily life of the French," said Mathieu Klein , socialist mayor of Nancy, close to the candidate.

In the coming weeks, the mobilization will intensify, he assures, with "new meetings with the French" and "a series of initiatives around the issue of education, the backbone of his presidential project" .

Pierre Jouvet, spokesperson for the PS, says he has "no doubt" that Anne Hidalgo "will be the first president of the French Republic".

But "the campaign will be difficult", underlined the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure, during the appointment of Anne Hidalgo by the militants.

After the resounding failure of the last presidential election (Benoit Hamon had made 6.3%), "nobody wants our victory", but "we will support you", he assured Anne Hidalgo.

The party is already in working order, with a poster and towing operation last weekend.

Anne Hidalgo will not be able to count for the moment on the support of the Radical Left Party, which, gathered in convention on Saturday, should decide on its independence in the presidential election, inviting all the left to come together "in a government agreement".

© 2021 AFP