Left-wing candidate Emmanuel Grégoire tops first round of Paris mayoral race

 

Socialist candidate Emmanuel Grégoire was in the lead ahead of former culture minister Rachida Dati after the first round of voting for Paris mayor, pollsters indicated Sunday as the French left bids to extend its 25 years at the capital's helm.

 

Issued on: 15/03/2026 - 21:45

Modified: 15/03/2026 - 22:23

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260315-left-wing-candidate-emmanuel-gregoire-tops-first-round-paris-mayoral-race-rachida-dati

By:

Benjamin DODMAN

 

Socialist Party candidate Emmanuel Grégoire took a commanding lead in the first round of Paris mayoral elections on Sunday, surging ahead of conservative former minister Rachida Dati, according to three exit polls.

 

"The women and men of Paris have put us clearly in the lead in this first round," Grégoire told supporters as the first projections trickled in.

 

Grégoire, leading a left-wing alliance that includes the Greens and Communists, picked up 36.4% of the vote, well ahead of Dati on 24.8%, according to an Ipsos-BVA-Cesi poll.

 

The former deputy mayor took 37% of the vote to Dati 25.2%, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll. A third pollster put the gap at 10 points.

 

The three polling firms had centre-right challenger Pierre-Yves Bournazel and hard-left candidate Sophia Chikirou clearing the 10% threshold to qualify for the second round, while two out of three also included the far right’s Sarah Knafo.

 

Whether the latter candidates drop out of the race or form alliances with the two frontrunners could determine the outcome of the French municipal elections’ marquee race.

 

Grégoire, a lawmaker in the National Assembly, has ruled out joining forces with Chikirou of the hard-left France Unbowed party, whereas Dati has repeatedly urged Bournazel to rally behind here and avoid splitting the centre-right vote.

 

The high-stakes elections follows 25 years of transformational rule under successive left-wing mayors Bertrand Delanoë and Anne Hidalgo, who have transformed the polluted metropolis into a tree-lined city of bike lanes and pedestrian streets.

 

Grégoire has vowed to pursue the capital’s green revolution, though the incumbent left faces anger over roadwork disruptions, mounting debt and a scandal involving child sexual abuse allegations by school monitors in nursery and primary schools.

 

Dati, who recently resigned as culture minister to focus on the Paris race, has challenges of her own. She is due to go on trial in September over allegations of corruption and abuse of power relating to her past mandate as European lawmaker.