France's new Culture Minister Rachida Dati on Wednesday, January 17, said she plans to run for Paris mayor in 2026, only days after joining President Emmanuel Macron's reshuffled government. "My objective is Paris," Dati told the RTL broadcaster. "That's what I've always said (...) My wish is to unite everybody who wants change in Paris, I am determined."
Dati's arrival was the biggest surprise in last week's cabinet shake-up that saw 34-year-old Gabriel Attal take over as prime minister. Up until her appointment, Dati was a long-standing member of the opposition conservative Les Républicains party and is mayor of the French capital's chic 7th arrondissement, which is home to most French ministries, Parliament and many foreign embassies. Dati, a 58-year-old of Moroccan-Algerian origin, was defeated by incumbent Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, a socialist, in the capital's last municipal election in 2020.
Macron on Tuesday denied at a televised news conference that he had not discussed Dati's possible mayoral candidacy with her and at the weekend she denied press reports that suggested she had made an electoral pact with Macron.
Dati's announcement comes at the same time that Macron announced plans for electoral reform in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, saying the mayor in those cities should be elected directly and no longer by an electoral college made up of city councilors. Dati has called the current system "anti-democratic," saying there was "no reason why Parisians can't choose their mayor."
Until now, Dati had been vocal in criticizing figures from left and right who defected to Macron's centrist alliance, which in 2021 she said consisted of "traitors" and amounted to "nothing without Emmanuel Macron."
Dati served as justice minister under right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2009. But as soon as she accepted the cabinet post from Macron, LR leader Eric Ciotti announced her exclusion from the party.
She was also charged in 2021 with corruption and abuse of power in connection with payments she received from the Renault-Nissan group, an automaker. But Macron responded that it was not the first time ministers in his government had faced charges and the presumption of innocence must prevail.