PARIS — The Socialist Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo said Wednesday she was willing to participate in a primary between left-wing presidential candidates, a double-or-nothing gamble as her current presidential bid has failed to take off.
“This fractured Left that today despairs many of our compatriots must unite to govern. There needs to be a primary for the left, arbitrated by our compatriots,” Hidalgo said in a televised interview on TF1.
Hidalgo officially became the Socialist nominee in October, facing little internal competition for the nomination. But she failed to make headway and is only polling third among seven left-wing candidates that were still competing as of Wednesday.
POLITICO’s Poll of Polls currently measures her at 4 percent, down from 7 percent in September. The Socialist candidate at the 2017 presidential election, Benoît Hamon, scored 6 percent in the first round at the time, the lowest score in decades for former President François Hollande’s party.
None of the seven left-wing candidates comes close to Emmanuel Macron, conservative candidate Valérie Pécresse or far-right candidates Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour in the polls. Only the two-highest scoring candidates make the run-off in France’s election system.
“If we don’t do this uniting, the left will not be able to continue to exist. I am taking my responsibility tonight,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo canceled a trip on Wednesday morning to La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast, turning around to head back to Paris.