Socialist Paris mayor enters race for French presidency

Paris: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Sunday she would run for president in 2022 on a Socialist ticket, though polls indicate she has little chance of mounting a serious challenge unless she can unite the fragmented left.

Hidalgo, who became the first woman to run the French capital in 2014 and is among the few senior left-wing politicians to emerge from President Emmanuel Macron's 2017 redrawing of the political landscape relatively unscathed, is polling at about 8% voter support in April's first round. Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are currently polling at between 20% and 24%.