Ana María "Anne" Hidalgo Aleu (; ; born 19 June 1959)Profile of Anne Hidalgo is a Spanish-born French politician who served as the Mayor of Paris from 2014 to 2026 and is the first woman to hold the office. She is a member of the Socialist Party (PS).
Hidalgo was First Deputy Mayor of Paris under Mayor Bertrand Delanoë (2001–2014), having held the title of Councillor of Paris from 2001. She was elected mayor in 2014 after Delanoë declined to seek a third term. During her first mayoral term, Hidalgo launched the city-wide Réinventer Paris ("Reinvent Paris") programme, which aimed at refurbish and provide new uses for obsolescent sites and to open a participatory budgeting platform for projects throughout Paris. 2015 was marked by instances of Islamic terrorism: the January Charlie Hebdo shooting and November coordinated attacks, including the Bataclan theatre massacre, the aftermath of which Hidalgo witnessed firsthand.
Her popularity declined after several instances of alleged mismanagement, to the point that polls showed a majority of voters did not want her to win a second term in 2020.(French) "Sondage : 58% des Parisiens se disent mécontents d'Anne Hidalgo", www.lci.fr (25 March 2018)(French) "Elections municipales 2020 : Anne Hidalgo, mal-aimée mais favorite à Paris, Le Monde (21 January 2020) First Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard resigned in 2018, criticising Hidalgo's style of governance.(French) "Paris : démission surprise de Bruno Julliard, premier adjoint d'Anne Hidalgo", Le Parisien (17 September 2018) In 2019 she oversaw the disaster recovery efforts for the Notre-Dame de Paris fire. While the COVID-19 pandemic led to a record low voter turnout, she was reelected with a plurality of the vote.
During her second term, Hidalgo oversaw Paris's response to the pandemic, implementing measures such as nightly curfews, closure of non-essential shops and the introduction of of pop-up cycle lanes known as "coronapistes" to ease pressure on public transport. By early 2021, some of Hidalgo's policies had gained international attention, such as her proposal to remove over half of Paris's car parking spaces and turn the Champs-Élysées into a "fantastic garden". In 2024, Paris hosted the Summer Olympics; the opening ceremony was held outside of a stadium for the first time in modern history, with the athletes paraded by boat along the Seine.
On 12 September 2021, Hidalgo announced her candidacy in the Socialist primary for the 2022 presidential election, despite her 2020 pledge to serve a full second term as mayor."Quand Anne Hidalgo promettait qu'elle ne serait pas candidate à la présidentielle", Le Figaro (in French), 12 September 2021 She came tenth out of twelve candidates, with 1.75% of the vote, the lowest result ever for a Socialist candidate in a French presidential election.
Early life and education Family background and youth Hidalgo was born in San Fernando, province of Cádiz, Spain. Her paternal grandfather was a Spanish Socialist who became a refugee in France after the end of the Spanish Civil War along with his wife and his four children. However, her grandparents returned to Spain some time later. Her grandmother died on the return trip, whereas her grandfather was sentenced to death, although this sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment.
Hidalgo's father, Antonio Hidalgo (born in Antequera), was raised by his maternal grandparents. He was an electrician. In the late 1950s, he married a seamstress named Maria; they had two daughters, Ana (Anne) and María (Marie). Due to Spain's social and economic problems resulting from the Stabilization Plan, Hidalgo's parents migrated to France in 1961, this time as economic immigrants. They settled in Lyon with their two daughters.
Hidalgo grew up in Vaise, the 9th arrondissement of Lyon,Adam Thomson (14 March 2014), Fight for Paris mayor boils down to two women Financial Times. speaking Spanish with her parents and French with her sister. Her parents are now back in Spain and her sister manages a company in Los Angeles. Hidalgo and her parents were naturalised French when she was 14. In 2003, she regained Spanish nationality and since then has had dual French–Spanish citizenship.
Studies Hidalgo graduated with a master's degree in social law at Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 before completing a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) in social and trade unionism at Paris West University Nanterre La Défense.
Labour inspector In 1982, Hidalgo entered the national contest for the Inspection du travail (Labour Inspectorate), ranking fifth. She obtained her first inspector assignment in Chevilly-Larue in 1984 at the age of 24, before receiving a post in the 15th arrondissement of Paris where she lived, a few months later.
In 1991, Hidalgo was appointed director of the National Institute of Labour. In 1993, she joined the vocational training delegation at the Ministry of Labour and then obtained a mission at the International Labour Office in Geneva from 1995 to 1996. She then worked for one year as a project manager for the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Labour. From 1996 to 1997, she was an officer at the Human Resources Directorate of Compagnie Générale des Eaux (then Vivendi and Vivendi Universal).
Hidalgo retired from the civil service on 1 July 2011, aged 52.Anne Hidalgo, 53 ans, retraitée depuis juillet 2011, Atlantico, 9 avril 2013.
Member of ministerial cabinets Between 1997 and 2002, Hidalgo worked as a staffer in three ministerial offices within the government of Lionel Jospin: first in the office of Martine Aubry at the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity as technical advisor; then with Nicole Péry, Secretary of State for Women's Rights and Vocational Training, from 1998 to 2000, as technical advisor then consultant to the firm, participating, in particular, in the drafting of laws on parity and professional equality between women and men; and from November 2000 to May 2002, as a technical adviser and then mission manager, responsible for social relations and the status of civil servants, in the office of Marylise Lebranchu, Minister of Justice.
Hidalgo said on 4 April 2013, on RMC: "I earn 5,000 euros net per month for my mandates". According to the website Atlantico, she received, for all her revenues, around 8,200 euros net per month.
Political career
In the 2001 municipal elections, she led the list of the Socialist Party (PS) in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, which won 26.5% of votes in the first round; at the second round it then placed behind the list gathered around Édouard Balladur and Mayor René Galy-Dejean. She joined the Council of Paris and was appointed First Deputy Mayor of Paris.
In June 2002, she was a candidate in the legislative election in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, winning 29.6% of votes in the first round, but Balladur was elected with 54.2% of the vote. In March 2004, she was elected to the Regional Council of Île-de-France on the list led by Jean-Paul Huchon.
As part of the internal campaign for the nomination of the Socialist candidate in 2006, she publicly supported Dominique Strauss-Kahn, while remaining close to Lionel Jospin and Bertrand Delanoë. With other female leaders of the Socialist Party, she criticized the "peoplelisation" of politics, referring to the promotion of Ségolène Royal as a popularist widely-identifiable member of the Socialist Party, rather than a classical Marxist.
In June 2007, she was a candidate at the legislative election in the 13th arrondissement of Paris and had in the first round 28.2%, against 36.6% for the UMP candidate Jean-François Lamour; she was beaten on the second round with 56.7% for Lamour.
First Deputy Mayor of Paris In 2001, Hidalgo was elected councillor in the 15th arrondissement. She also joined the Council of Paris, where the left had a majority for the first time since 1977.
The new Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, wishing to apply parity within his administration and among his deputies, appointed Hidalgo as the first deputy responsible for gender equality and the time office. Close to François Hollande, she thus obtained her first executive position. In 2002, she acted as Mayor of Paris during the convalescence of Delanoë after he was stabbed during an attempted assassination. She confided at the same time to consider a candidacy for Mayor of Toulouse in 2008.
In June 2002, as a candidate in the legislative election in Paris's 12th constituency, Hidalgo won 29.6% of the vote in the first and only round against 54.2% of the vote for incumbent Édouard Balladur, who was reelected. She also failed to take Paris's 13th constituency away from the UMP in June 2007, obtaining 28.2% of the vote in the first round, then 43.3% of the votes in the second round against 56.7% for the former Sports Minister Jean-François Lamour (UMP).
In the municipal elections of 9 and 16 March 2008, the assembly list (PS-PCF-PRG-MRC) that Hidalgo led in the 15th arrondissement of Paris came first in the first round with 35.9% of the vote (28 313 votes) against a strongly divided right, 33.9% to Philippe Goujon's UMP list and 10.1% to Gérard d'Aboville's list (various right). In the second round, her list obtained 47.35% of the votes against 52.65% obtained by Philippe Goujon, whose list merged with that of Gérard d'Aboville. Anne Hidalgo remained first Deputy Mayor under Bertrand Delanoë. She was then responsible for town planning and architecture and seats for the board of directors of the Parisian Urban Planning Workshop.
In 2017, an article from Capital stated that Hidalgo had been paid €100,000 by the Ministry of Labour from 2001 to 2003, while being Bertrand Delanoë's first deputy. Hidalgo's office indicated that she would file a complaint for defamation.
Regional councillor of Île-de-France In the 2004 regional elections, Hidalgo was elected to the Regional Council of Île-de-France after being voted for Paris on the list conducted at the regional level by Jean-Paul Huchon. She became a member of the Committee on Transport and Traffic and is the Chair of the Regional AIDS Information and Prevention Centre (CRIPS).
In the 2010 regional elections, the Socialist list she led in Paris came in second place in the first round, with 26.3% of the vote, behind the list led by Chantal Jouanno (28.9%) and in front of the Green list of Robert Lion (20.6%). In the second round, his list took the lead with 57.9% of the votes cast, winning in the 1st and 5th districts, two bastions traditionally anchored on the right. Reelected as regional councillor, she joined the Committee on Culture and became president of Île-de-France Europe, which represents the region at the European Union institutions in Brussels. Jean-Luc Romero succeeded her to the presidency of the CRIPS. Upon her election as Mayor of Paris, she stepped down as a regional councillor.
Mayor of Paris In 2012 Hidalgo announced her intention to succeed Delanoë in the 2014 Paris municipal election. The only candidate of her party after the withdrawal of Jean-Marie Le Guen, Hidalgo was appointed on 22 May 2013 to lead the municipal campaign, with 98.3% of the votes of 2,715 Paris Socialists. She appointed Pascal Cherki as her campaign spokesperson, assisted by Bruno Julliard, Rémi Féraud (also co-director of the campaign with Jean-Louis Missika), Ian Brossat (after the PS-PCF agreement), Colombe Brossel, Seybah Dagoma and Myriam El Khomri. On 10 October 2013, she was reelected as head of the PS list in the 15th arrondissement.