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Mayoral elections will be held in Paris this weekend
For the first time the two contenders battling it out for the role are both women
Socialist Anne Hidalgo is the frontrunner but rival Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet is closing the gap
As Parisians head to the polls for a second round of municipal elections this Sunday, one of two women could become Paris’ first “Madame le Maire”.
On the left is the Socialist candidate, Spanish-born Anne Hidalgo, 54, the deputy mayor under Paris’ incumbent Bertrand Delanoë.
On the right is Natalie Kosciusko-Morizet, 40, a former minister in Nicolas Sarkozy’s center-right government.
As women have long been underrepresented in French politics, this upcoming local election is expected to be an historic one.
Today, women make up 26.9% of National Assembly députés, while in local politics they account for just 13.9%.
Click on the flashing icons above to discover more about the two contenders going head to head in Paris’ mayoral elections.
Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this piece.
