Seen by rivals as a dangerous rightwinger, others hope the controversial culture minister can snatch Paris from the left
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he was the first woman of north African and Muslim heritage to hold a major French government post and she redefined political celebrity in France. Now Rachida Dati wants to become mayor of Paris and take the city from the left, which has been in power for 25 years.
“I want to bring back authority,” Dati, France’s culture minister, told Le Figaro last month, promising a law and order drive to arm municipal police with guns. Her opponents call her a dangerous rightwinger who would turn the French capital into a “Trumpist laboratory”.
March’s close-run mayoral election in Paris has become a policy battle for one of Europe’s most densely populated cities, struggling with a housing crisis and facing scorching summer temperatures amid climate breakdown.
