With five candidates qualified, the suspense remains high in Paris for the second round of municipal elections on Sunday, even though the socialist candidate, former first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire, has largely distanced his right-wing rival, former Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, and seems able to keep the French capital on the left.

Emmanuel Grégoire, a member of parliament for Paris, emerged victorious in the first round of voting on Sunday evening (37.98% of the vote). He finished more than twelve points ahead of former Minister of Culture Rachida Dati (25.46%), whose score was significantly lower than expected.

The right wing still hopes to swing the French capital of two million inhabitants, which has been led by the left for 25 years.

Three other candidates will be in the second round on Sunday: Sophia Chikirou of the radical left party La France insoumise (11.72%), the centre-right candidate Pierre-Yves Bournazel (11.34%) and Sarah Knafo on the far right, who qualified at the last minute with 10.40% of the votes.

The three are at the center of negotiations which must be completed before Tuesday evening, the deadline for submitting lists for March 22.

In Paris, the question of alliances on the right in particular is shaping up to be crucial and could serve as a test before the 2027 presidential election.

Pierre-Yves Bournazel, a member of the party of former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe -- who is already a candidate for the 2027 presidential election --, is also supported by the party of President Emmanuel Macron.

He is being pressured by his camp to ally with Ms. Dati, who has proposed a merger of the lists.

"Nothing has been decided yet," Mr. Bournazel's entourage told AFP on Monday, explaining that Rachida Dati still had to "commit to rejecting extremism," namely any alliance with the far-right MEP Sarah Knafo.

According to a Macronist official, Emmanuel Macron, who supports the Dati-Bournazel merger, called Rachida Dati and Edouard Philippe last night.

Pierre-Yves Bournazel is expected to speak "later today".

- "No discussion" on the left -

Sarah Knafo, whose total score is well below what the polls predicted, on Monday offered the right-wing candidate to accept her "outstretched hand" to forge an alliance of reason for the second round.

When regularly asked about a possible alliance with Sarah Knafo, Ms. Dati invariably replies that she would have more to lose than to gain, with a possible exodus of centre-right voters.

The surprise of this first round also came from the La France Insoumise MP for Paris, Sophia Chikirou, who finished in third place. This result reflects her party's performance, which made significant gains in several French cities on Sunday.

Ms. Chikirou announced, unsurprisingly, that she would remain in the second round if Mr. Grégoire refused a merger.

Emmanuel Grégoire, for his part, has always ruled out any alliance with LFI. When questioned on Monday by AFP, an elected official from the Socialist MP's camp confirmed that "no discussions were on the table nor any merger."

The Parisian election campaign was marked by numerous accusations, partly focused on cases of sexual violence in after-school programs, with the main candidates denouncing the responsibility of the outgoing majority.

Other topics discussed included housing, as Paris, like many capital cities, is experiencing a severe housing crisis, with rents constantly rising and a rental supply dwindling, with nearly one in five homes vacant.

Other issues include mobility, one of the key aspects of Anne Hidalgo's twelve-year term, which accelerated greening, pedestrianization and the development of cycle paths in Europe's most densely populated capital, security and cleanliness, in a city where 71% of Parisians said in 2025 that they were dissatisfied with the outgoing mayor's record on this point.

The situation of Rachida Dati, who will be tried from September 16 to 28 for corruption and influence peddling, has also been a subject of debate. She denies the charges, but they expose her to sentences of up to ten years in prison and five years of ineligibility for public office.