Presented as having to relaunch a stalled campaign, the Lille meeting did not move the polls: the socialist candidate is still stagnating between 5 and 7% of voting intentions, behind the ecologist Yannick Jadot and the rebellious Jean- Luc Mélenchon, less than six months before the election.

"We must find a solution to improve the campaign," admits an elected Socialist on condition of anonymity.

"The campaign is gaining momentum", assures his side Mathieu Klein, the mayor of Nancy, in charge of the program in the campaign and spokesperson for the campaign, who affirms that there is on the ground "a expectation, a desire to dialogue with her ".

"The campaign is continuing," also wants to reassure Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the PS, underlining the various steps to "associate the French" with the vision of the socialist candidate for France.

Anne Hidalgo, PS presidential candidate, speaks at the Congress of Mayors of France, in Paris on November 18, 2021 Ludovic MARIN AFP / Archives

After a week largely focused on her role as mayor of the capital (Paris council, congress of the association of mayors of France), Anne Hidalgo launched Saturday morning in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) the very first "Forum" devoted to his presidential project.

The meeting brought together "in complete independence" personalities from "organized civil society", such as Emmanuelle Cosse, president of the Social Housing Union, Camille Etienne, climate activist, or Marylise Léon, deputy general secretary of the CFDT, around a first theme: "Social justice and ecological transition", the guideline of its presidential project.

"The transformation of our economy, of our way of life, is necessary because of the climate emergency but the question is + how +. The main issue is social. We must be able to support the most fragile", insisted Ms. Hidalgo at the opening.

She said she wanted "to create a consensus on the goal of decarbonisation but not by leaving half of the population on the wayside. We are the only ones to carry this vision of the world," she added.

Mulhouse to Avignon

Another "forum" is due to take place in December on education.

"We do not conceive of a presidential program without the exchange, the confrontation of ideas: the Jupiterian conception of politics does not correspond to the expectations of the time", explained Mathieu Klein.

Friday evening, it was around a round table on education, in Les Lilas, in Seine-Saint-Denis, that the candidate launched another approach, "France aloud".

The objective: to discuss with the French "their experiences, their feelings, their expectations" on certain campaign themes.

Anne Hidalgo, PS presidential candidate, meeting in Lille to relaunch her campaign, October 23, 2021 THOMAS LO PRESTI AFP / Archives

"Our team carries the voice of those who have only our voice," said Ms. Hidalgo, in front of teachers, parents and high school students.

Exchanges, aggregated on a digital platform, which will also feed the candidate's program, which will be presented in January.

Already very present on the ground, the mayor of Paris will also increase her trips, starting on Monday a tour of France which will take her this week from Mulhouse to Avignon, via Besançon, Saint-Etienne, Chambéry and Carpentras.

On the menu of the different stages, visits to companies and farms, meetings with associations, discussions with employees, farmers, traders, artisans, but also elected officials and activists, during public meetings and meeting.

"The common thread is: + How we live with dignity from our work +", explains the president of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis Stéphane Troussel, another spokesperson for the candidate, who also notes that "the requests in the field, the proposals for (that Anne Hidalgo) meet the local actors, are accelerating ".

© 2021 AFP