Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Sunday said she would run for president in 2022 on a socialist ticket, though polls indicate she has little chance of mounting a serious challenge unless she can unite the fragmented left.
"Knowing the seriousness of our times and to give hope to our lives, I have decided to be candidate for the French presidency," the 62-year-old said announcing her bid in the Normandy city of Rouen.
Hidalgo, who became the first woman to run the French capital in 2014 and is among the few senior left-wing politicians to emerge from President Emmanuel Macron's 2017 redrawing of the political landscape relatively unscathed, is polling at about 8% voter support in April's first round.
(Reporting by Richard Lough; editing by John Irish)
