She is undoubtedly the best-known French mayor outside of the country. The world saw Anne Hidalgo in front of the gates of Notre-Dame de Paris with Emmanuel Macron for its official reopening on December 7, swimming in the Seine before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, then handing over the Olympic flag to the mayor of Los Angeles. Beyond these headline-making events, the Socialist mayor of Paris enjoys a positive international reputation, which is not necessarily shared in France. In fact, her national popularity is the exact opposite, inexorably at half-mast.
The latest accolade came from the Financial Times, which ranked her, on December 6, among the 25 “most influential women of 2024,” alongside, notably, singer Taylor Swift and multi-medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles. For having “put her mark on the city by enacting progressive policies” and set “an example for how municipalities can cut carbon emissions,” Anne Hidalgo finds herself not in the “leaders” category, like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, but among the “heroes,” with Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the Russian opponent Alexei Navalny who died in custody, and Gisèle Pelicot.
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