Paris municipal elections 2026: Rachida Dati calls for a "change of team", Emmanuel Grégoire argues for a "change of method"

In interviews given to La Tribune Dimanche, the two candidates highlight their differences regarding the two terms of the current mayor, Anne Hidalgo, while also taking jabs at their main opponent. Emmanuel Grégoire and Rachida Dati continue their long-distance duel one week before the first round of the municipal elections. In interviews given to La Tribune Dimanche and published in this Sunday's edition, March 8, the two frontrunners to win in Paris each emphasize their desire for change after Anne Hidalgo's two terms. Leading in the first round in the latest Elabe/Berger-Levrault poll for BFMTV, La Tribune Dimanche, and Le Figaro with 32% of voting intentions, the candidate of the united left, excluding La France Insoumise (LFI), promises a "change of approach" compared to Anne Hidalgo. While acknowledging "obvious commonalities regarding the political vision and the major challenges of transforming the capital," the Socialist MP and first deputy mayor of Paris from 2018 to 2024 assures, "There will be differences in the approach." For Rachida Dati, Emmanuel Grégoire is "Anne Hidalgo's heir." Rachida Dati, who would come in second in the first round with 26.5% of the votes cast according to the Elabe/Berger-Levrault poll, is not convinced by the change advocated by her opponent. Asked to describe Emmanuel Grégoire in one word, she calls him "Anne Hidalgo's heir". And when asked to summarize her project, one word also comes to mind: "Change". "We need to change our methods, our priorities, our vision. We need to change our team," adds the candidate supported by LR, Modem, and UDI. Emphasizing the cleanliness and safety of the city, Rachida Dati has made the 18th arrondissement the district she intends to transform, a district that "concentrates everything that makes up the soul of Paris and all of Emmanuel Grégoire's failures." For his part, Emmanuel Grégoire associates the word "Trial" with Rachida Dati, a reference to the fact that the mayor of the 7th arrondissement will appear before the Paris Criminal Court next September for "corruption" and "influence peddling" in the Renault-Nissan affair. On this subject, the person most concerned says she is again "very calm" and asks Parisians "to trust (her)": "As Mayor of Paris, I will change their lives."