Socialist frontrunner Emmanuel Grégoire was elected Paris mayor on Sunday, beating right-wing former minister Rachida Dati and extending the left’s quarter-century rule in the French capital, according to projections.
Grégoire, a 48-year-old former deputy of outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo, was projected to win more than 50% of the vote, trouncing Dati and hard-left rival Sophia Chikirou – and defying forecasts of a close race.
“Paris has decided to stay true to its history,” Grégoire told a cheering crowd.
His victory follows 25 years of transformational rule under successive left-wing mayors Bertrand Delanoë and Hidalgo, who have turned the polluted metropolis into a tree-lined city of bike lanes and pedestrian streets.
The Socialist frontrunner had taken a commanding lead in the first round last week with almost 38% of the vote, more than twelve points ahead of Dati, who served as culture minister under President Emmanuel Macron.
But Dati’s alliance with a centre-right rival and the tactical withdrawal of a far-right challenger looked to have boosted her chances going into the second round, even as Grégoire refused to team up with Chikirou, splitting the left-wing vote.
Read moreFrench Socialists split over alliance with hard-left party in mayoral runoffs
For the newly elected mayor, Sunday’s resounding victory provides vindication of the decision not to ally with Chikirou’s France Unbowed, whose radical rhetoric has alienated many moderate voters.
The election caps a tense campaign that saw Grégoire accuse Macron of meddling in local politics to weaken his chances, a claim the French leader dismissed as “nonsense”.
The race appeared to tighten ahead this week as Dati joined forces with fourth-placed centre-right candidate Pierre-Yves Bournazel, in a move that the French president personally approved, according to Élysée Palace sources.
Grégoire also accused Macron of playing a role in the withdrawal of fifth-placed far-right contender Sarah Knafo, who urged voters to “drive out the left” after taking 10% of the first-round vote, thereby boosting Dati’s chances.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen had also called on voters in Paris to oust the left from power – though that call may have been more of a blessing for Grégoire, with the Le Pen brand still toxic to most voters in the French capital.
