Surprise move not to stand for a second term in upcoming presidential election throws selection of a Socialist candidate wide open

François Hollande, the least popular French president since the second world war, has announced he will not run for a second term in office. France: government in turmoil as Socialist infighting grows Read more

He is the first French president since the war not to attempt to run for re-election. “I am aware today of the risk that going down a route that would not gather sufficient support would entail, so I have decided not to be a candidate in the presidential election,” a sombre-looking Hollande said in his televised address. His incredible and inevitable abdication does provide some hope for those on the centre-left that either Mr. Macron or Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls can now mount a credible challenge to Republicans’ François Fillon and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front. If he does run, Valls will face opposition from several former government ministers who are part of a leftwing rebel movement, including the ambitious former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who is fiercely critical of Hollande’s pro-business line. Hollande beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in an election in May 2012 after a classic leftwing campaign in which he targeted big business and pledged to raise taxes for high earners. The revelation in October that Mr. Hollande dined regularly with two Le Monde journalists and spoke disparagingly about almost everyone turned even his dwindling allies against him.
François Hollande, the President of France, announces that he will not run in next year's presidential election. This leaves the selection of a candidate for the French Socialist Party wide open.