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Reader question: Who runs Paris while Hidalgo runs for French presidency?

The news that Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has formally launched her bid to become president of France in 2022 has sparked all sorts of political analysis, but one reader asked us who runs Paris in the meantime?

Published: 15 September 2021 16:39 CEST
Reader question: Who runs Paris while Hidalgo runs for French presidency?
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. Photo: Patrick Herzog/AFP

Question: I live in Paris and I’m quite supportive of Hidalgo’s policies here, especially in regards to cycling, so I was interested to see that she’s standing for the presidency. But I do wonder, who will be running things in Paris while she’s off campaigning?

Being a mayor is a well-worn stepping stone towards taking power at a national level, Jacques Chirac was mayor of Paris before ascending to the presidency in 1995, while previous presidents including François Mitterand and François Hollande have also served as mayors. 

It’s also quite common for politicians to flip between roles at a local and national level – previous Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was Mayor of Le Havre before he was appointed PM, at which point he gave up the mairie, before standing again and winning in July 2020 as he ended the PM role.

His successor Jean Castex was the mayor of Prades in south west France when he was appointed PM.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin served as mayor of Tourcoing in north east France. He gave up the mayor’s role when he joined the government and instead became deputy mayor, but in June 2021 stood and was elected in departmental elections in Tourcoing.

According to his Twitter feed, he’s available on request to perform weddings in Tourcoing (a standard function for local officials).

Holding multiple roles is known as cumul de mandats (accumulation of mandates) in French and in recent years the rules have been tightened up on this, ensuring that people cannot hold too many roles at the same time – before 2017 it was common for mayors elected to national office to hold onto their role and simply appoint a deputy.

The president is not permitted to hold any other office during their time at the Elysée, although they do hold the ceremonial role of Co-Prince of Andorra.

Other politicians face limits on the mandates they can hold, with certain role being incompatible, including that of mayor of a town of more than 3,500 inhabitants with a national office.

The above only applies to politicians once they are elected, and it is usual for candidates to hang on to their current role during the campaign – the obvious example being a president seeking re-election who combines running the country with his or her own election campaign (Emmanuel Macron has so far not confirmed whether he will stand in 2022  although it is widely expected that he will).

If Hidalgo is elected as president – and current polling suggests she will not be – she will have to give up being Mayor of Paris, but during the election campaign she is highly likely to hold on to the role, with support in the day-to-day running of things from her current team.

Her deputy, Emmanuel Grégoire, is widely regarded as her successor should she choose to step down for any reason before her current term as mayor ends in 2026.

Speaking to Le Figaro, Grégoire assured readers that Hidalgo remains “fully mayor of Paris” while conceding that he will “have work to do”. 

He added: “She knows my loyalty; I know her trust.”

Do you have a question on any aspect of life in France? Email us at [email protected] and we will do our best to answer it.

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READER QUESTION

Reader question: Can I approach my French deputé for help? 

If you live in France you will have a local representative in parliament - but can you approach them for help if you have a problem? Here's how the député system works.

Published: 24 May 2024 15:49 CEST
Reader question: Can I approach my French deputé for help? 

There are 557 députés (MPs) in France’s Assemblée nationale – of whom 362 are men and 215 are women. 

They are elected on a constituency (circonscription) basis, so every area of France has its ‘local’ representative in parliament – you can look up yours here.

Officially however, French MPs are invested with a national mandate – effectively, France is their constituency. They are, therefore, expected to act in what they believe are the best interests of the whole country at all times – not just the interest of their local area.

National mandate 

“MPs in France are not mouthpieces for their voters,” the Assemblée nationale website declares, “they act for themselves in relation to their vision of the general interest.”

It goes on to insist that MPs, “cannot be prisoners of local or sectional interests” – meaning that they should not be persuaded to vote in a particular way by outside parties, whether that is businesses/ monied individuals/ lobbyists – or their own voters. 

It’s a Revolutionary ideal that has its origins in article three of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, from August 26th, 1789: “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body, no individual can exercise authority that does not emanate expressly from it.”

And the French Constitution states: “national sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it through their representatives”.

Basically, it means that deputies represent the entire nation and not just voters in their constituency.

READ ALSO OPINION: How to be loved by the French electorate? Retire or die

In reality, of course, MPs are influenced by what matters to their constituents – so for example an MP elected in a rural area might be more likely to back laws that protect farmers. 

And it’s not just MPs – the recent unsuccessful attempts to ease post-Brexit rules for British second-home owners were proposed by Senators who have constituencies in south-west France and the Alps; areas well known for having a high number of second homes.

Nonetheless, the theory is of ‘national’ MPs.

Meeting the locals

Crucially, however, this does not mean that – once elected – MPs do not meet residents in the constituencies that elected them and discuss local issues. Quite the opposite.

Constituents can contact their député to discuss ideas and concerns. In fact, your local MP – with their national mandate – is easy to get in touch with. You can find their official assembly email address here, along with where they sit in the hemisphere and what they have recently been up to in parliament, by searching for your commune or département.

In theory, that national mandate means you could contact any of France’s 577 MPs for assistance. But it makes sense to seek out the ones the electorate in your area voted for, because it means they should have a handle on any local issues and angles.

If you already know the name of your friendly neighbourhood MP, you could search for them on social media, and contact them that way; while many – but by no means all – have their own website, with additional contact details. 

So, generally, you can get hold of your French MP easily enough. They hold office hours, organise public meetings, respond to numerous requests for assistance and advice, and channel the concerns of their constituents to national decision-making bodies.

It is part of their job to help you if they can.

You may also bump into them at events in the local area such as summer fêstivals, the Fête de la musique or more formal events such as the Armistice Day commemorations or the July 14th celebrations. Politicians like to get involved in local events to either remain part of the community or to persuade people to re-elect them (take your pick).

At formal events they will be wearing a tricolore sash and you will be able to tell them apart from the local mayor by which way up they wear their sashes (honestly, this is true).

Mairie

Sometimes their help will involve pointing you in the direction of your local mairie – which may be better at dealing with more practical matters.

In fact, for many local issues, the mairie should be your first port of call – or possibly the préfecture. France has several layers of local government and they have quite far-reaching powers – especially local mayors.

For this reason, it’s more usual to first approach the mairie rather than your MP if you have a problem – but there’s nothing to stop you approaching your MP instead.

The convenient truth is that French MPs do not work just in the ivory tower of the Palais Bourbon.

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