{"id":381,"date":"2026-03-30T09:55:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/381\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T09:55:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T09:55:25","slug":"socialist-emmanuel-gregoire-elected-paris-mayor-in-runoff-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/381\/","title":{"rendered":"Socialist Emmanuel Gr\u00e9goire elected Paris mayor in runoff vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS (AP) \u2014 Emmanuel Gr\u00e9goire, a Socialist little known to the French public, was elected mayor of Paris in a runoff vote<\/a> Sunday, succeeding fellow party member Anne Hidalgo.<\/p>\n

Soon after claiming victory, Gr\u00e9goire, 48, took a city bike through the streets of Paris toward City Hall, echoing his promise to make the French capital greener. <\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire won over 50% of the votes, beating out prominent conservative contender Rachida Dati who reached 41% while hard-left contender Sophia Chikirou got about 8%.<\/p>\n

The race for Paris mayor was part of France\u2019s second round of municipal elections<\/a>. Sunday\u2019s vote showed clear gains for the traditional left and right, and one major win for the far right in the French Riviera city of Nice.<\/p>\n

Long a discreet figure in French politics, Gr\u00e9goire had for years worked by Hidalgo\u2019s side. <\/p>\n

Hidalgo was elected in 2014 and reelected in 2020 but chose not to seek a third six-year term after leading the city through the 2015 extremist attacks<\/a> and the 2024 Paris Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are five things to know about Paris\u2019 new face.<\/p>\n

A local political career<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire was well-placed to step into the limelight when Hidalgo decided not to seek a third term.<\/p>\n

He had joined the Socialist party at 24 in 2002, got involved in Paris politics and eight years later became the chief of staff of Paris\u2019 then-mayor, Bertrand Delano\u00eb. <\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire subsequently worked in the prime minister\u2019s office under Socialist President Francois Hollande. He was first elected to the Paris City Council in 2014 and became Hidalgo\u2019s first deputy mayor from 2018 to 2024, overlooking key portfolios, including budget, urban policies and public services.<\/p>\n

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In 2024, he was elected a lawmaker to the National Assembly and last year launched his bid to succeed Hidalgo.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn advantage we have is that we know Parisians very well,\u201d Gr\u00e9goire told The Associated Press ahead of the election. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that in politics, it\u2019s healthy when grassroots work pays off more than social media\u201d he said \u2014 a stab at his rival Dati, known for her outspoken style and being a regular guest in television shows.<\/p>\n

A victim of child abuse<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire recently revealed publicly he had been a victim of sexual abuse while in elementary school between the ages of 9 and 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the story of a child who \u2026 was sexually abused for several months during after-school activities at a municipal swimming pool,\u201d Gr\u00e9goire told France Inter Radio last year. \u201cAt the time, I couldn\u2019t find the strength, the means, or the words to express that pain and suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept it hidden for decades,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Child abuse has been a key topic in Paris electoral campaign, as several reports of alleged abuse in Paris public schools recently broke out, which Gr\u00e9goire said reopened his own scar. Critics accused him of having done nothing on the issue. <\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire said that since 2024, he was no longer in charge at City Hall.<\/p>\n

A rivalry within the left<\/p>\n

At the city level, Gr\u00e9goire has led a broad left-ecologist political coalition of Socialists, Greens and Communists, but has ruled out any alliance with the hard-left party France Unbowed of veteran leader Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon.<\/p>\n

France Unbowed once used to be a traditional ally of other left-wing parties. But the alliance collapsed as political rivals accused its politicians of tolerating antisemitic rhetoric. Some critics also blamed the hard left for fueling tensions after a far-right militant was beaten to death<\/a> in the city of Lyon last month.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the runoff, France Unbowed candidate Chikirou offered to join forces with Gr\u00e9goire against Dati, but he declined, saying they do not share the same \u201cvalues.\u201d <\/p>\n

The remark reflected Gr\u00e9goire\u2019s perception of Chikirou as being too radical while he defends a more moderate approach. <\/p>\n

Focus on housing Parisians, not just tourists<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire, for whom the housing issue has been central to his campaign, has repeatedly said that \u201cAirbnb is my enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine with Parisians renting out their primary residence when they go on vacation. But I don\u2019t want entire neighborhoods in Paris to be emptied of their residents because apartments are used exclusively to house tourists,\u201d he said during the campaign.<\/p>\n

With Paris<\/a> long one of the world\u2019s top tourist destinations, tens of thousands of apartments are used as tourist rentals instead of being available to Parisians, Gr\u00e9goire said. <\/p>\n

He pledged to create 60,000 new social and affordable housing units as mayor. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the same problems in Paris as in New York, San Francisco, cities with which I have worked a lot on these issues,\u201d Gr\u00e9goire told the AP. \u201cWhat happens if we don\u2019t regulate? Speculation drives residents out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e9goire also vowed to fight overcrowding in places like the Louvre Museum<\/a> and the Montmartre neighborhood<\/a> by highlighting less-visited sites and urging tourists to experience different locations. <\/p>\n

In line with his predecessor\u2019s policies, Gr\u00e9goire promised to further increase the number of cycling lanes<\/a> and make the River Seine cleaner<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Feud with Hidalgo<\/p>\n

Gregoire was long seen in the Socialist camp as the favorite to succeed Hidalgo, but a dispute between the two in 2024 almost derailed his bid. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnne Hidalgo didn\u2019t back me. She did everything she could to torpedo my candidacy. I am neither her candidate nor her heir,\u201d Gr\u00e9goire told the Franceinfo news broadcaster about the feud last month without elaborating. <\/p>\n

However, Gr\u00e9goire acknowledged their closely shared views but said his approach is \u201cdifferent,\u201d describing himself as \u201cavailable, accessible and always listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hidalgo initially supported another Socialist figure to succeed her, but she ultimately endorsed Gr\u00e9goire after he was chosen as mayoral candidate by party members last year. <\/p>\n

She welcomed Gr\u00e9goire with a hug and a rose at the City Hall on Sunday evening, praising his \u201cvery, very beautiful victory.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS (AP) \u2014 Emmanuel Gr\u00e9goire, a Socialist little known to the French public, was elected mayor of Paris…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[388,285,393,391,375,386,73,349,389,83,390,30,346,382,392,387,394,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-paris","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-anne-hidalgo","10":"tag-bertrand-delano","11":"tag-conservatism","12":"tag-elections","13":"tag-emmanuel-grgoire","14":"tag-europe","15":"tag-france-government","16":"tag-francois-hollande","17":"tag-general-news","18":"tag-jean-luc-melenchon","19":"tag-paris","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-rachida-dati","22":"tag-run-off-elections","23":"tag-socialism","24":"tag-sophia-chikirou","25":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}