Fifteen years ago, Valerie Pecresse quelled a student uprising over her university reforms with the same blend of consensus-building politics and reformist mettle that she believes will now propel her to the French presidency.
Chosen to run last month by rank-and-file members of the conservative Les Republicains party, voter surveys show Pecresse could beat President Emmanuel Macron in April's election. If she succeeds, she would become France's first woman head of state.
A minister for higher education and then the budget during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency, Pecresse said last week she would bring out "the power hose" to clean up trouble neighbourhoods where the state had lost authority and lawlessness prevailed. Pecresse pointed to the cutting of hundreds of jobs at her head office to make way for more high-school staff, reduced spending and higher investment as proof she gets things done. In 2020, she won a second mandate to run the greater Paris region.
Opinion polls show her in a close-fought race with Marine Le Pen, leader of the traditional far-right, for the second spot in the election's run-off vote. Zemmour follows close behind. Should she make it, she would be the most dangerous opponent for Macron, the surveys suggest.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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