Persistent Unpopularity

Mention Hidalgo’s name to Parisians, and you’re likely to hear: “Hidalgo? Everyone hates her; she’s destroyed the city!” Nearly three-quarters of Parisians say they are dissatisfied with her policies.

Hidalgo’s term has been marked by a significant expansion of cycle paths, with Paris now boasting 1,400 kilometers, compared to 125 in 2001. Early in her tenure, the new mayor declared war on traffic, vowing to end diesel vehicles by 2020 (now postponed until 2025) and gasoline vehicles by 2030. This has led to a 35 percent reduction in the number of cars, but also worsening traffic congestion. Motorists and people living around the ring roads are at a loss. In 2023, Paris was by far the most congested city in France, with motorists on average losing 120 hours — five entire days — to traffic jams in 2023.

Hidalgo’s tenure has also seen a controversial increase of 52 percent in property taxes and a doubling of the city’s debt. Residents complain that the city has become dirty, chaotic, unsafe, and infested with rats. Construction sites are everywhere, with increased litter and the sound of jackhammers causing frustration. Under the hashtag #SaccageParis, angry residents post daily photos of unsightly work and tree bases littered with cigarette butts and dog droppings.

Born in Francisco Franco’s Spain to an electrician father and a seamstress mother, Hidalgo fled to France with her family to escape poverty when she was two and a half years old. She frequently highlights her modest origins to counter accusations of being a “bobo” — a portmanteau used to describe “bourgeois bohemians.” “I am not one of the people born into the world of power,” Hidalgo says, claiming that criticisms of her administration are orchestrated by the far right to damage her and her team’s reputation.

In an effort to rebuild support within the Left and win back former Socialist voters, Hidalgo has tried to distance herself from the neoliberal left and the bourgeois progressivism that replaced the left/right division in France with the advent of President Emmanuel Macron’s “bourgeois bloc.” However, many Parisians see her as out of touch with their daily reality, prioritizing environmental policies that seem to benefit the upper-middle classes, such as advocacy for cycling. The working class, dealing with more immediate economic concerns, no longer feels heard by Hidalgo. Such criticism reflects broader discontent with the PS.

From Power to Poll Doldrums

The French political landscape has transformed in recent years. The rise of Marine Le Pen and the far right has overshadowed the Left, which suffered a serious decline after the presidency of François Hollande, one of France’s most unpopular presidents. This decline has impacted the popularity of Paris’s Socialist mayor.

In the last European elections, the French left placed third, trailing far behind the far right. Although the Left won a temporary victory in the subsequent snap elections with the Nouveau Front Populaire coalition, its appeal is tenuous. Internal divisions, particularly between the PS and La France Insoumise (LFI), have further weakened the Left. Disagreements over Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks and challenges in forming a unified leadership have contributed to its recent loss in popularity.

Since her reelection in June 2020, Hidalgo’s popularity has continued to decline. Polls indicate that if municipal elections took place today, she would lose, garnering only 12 to 14 percent of the vote. In contrast, her rival, Rachida Dati, a prominent figure of the French right, is more popular, with support at 38 percent. Dati left Les Républicains (LR) when Macron appointed her minister of culture in early 2024.

Dati’s trajectory has been strategic, aimed at ultimately securing the Paris mayoralty. She has already announced her candidacy for 2026. Even more worrying for Hidalgo, her former deputy at Paris town hall, Emmanuel Grégoire, is polling better than she is. Hidalgo is struggling to rally support.

Tahiti Gate

Over the last ten years of Hidalgo’s tenure, several scandals have emerged, the latest being the “Tahiti Gate” affair. In October 2023, Hidalgo was accused of embezzling public funds by using a business trip to Tahiti for the Olympics as a pretext to pay a private visit to her daughter on a neighboring island.

The national financial prosecutor’s office opened an investigation and searched the Paris town hall premises. “It’s nothing, you know,” the mayor said in an interview, downplaying the issue. “Every year or two, people try to invent something,” she added. The controversy intensified when videos surfaced of the mayor cycling the streets of Paris while she was supposed to be on the other side of the world. According to her own cabinet members, these missteps “weaken” her and reinforce her image of being disconnected from voters.

In the past decade, 120,000 Parisians — out of a population of 2.1 million — have left the capital. Critics point to an “objective link between the arrival of Anne Hidalgo and the departure of Parisians,” especially in a region otherwise experiencing demographic growth. The tenor of politics in the capital has also become strained, with municipal council meetings often becoming battlegrounds between Hidalgo and Dati’s official opposition. The media has dubbed these moments the “Dati show.”

Despite the success and popularity of the Paris Olympics, it remains uncertain whether the public enthusiasm will benefit the mayor in the long term. Citizens’ anger is strong and likely to resurface after the Olympics. It’s difficult to see a road to victory for Hidalgo in the 2026 elections. One possibility is aligning herself with the rising figure of the French center left, Raphaël Glucksmann. According to a French media outlet, she’s strongly considering it. But it’s unclear whether the popularity of others can revive her own.