Anne Hidalgo becomes first female mayor of Paris

Socialist politician Anne Hidalgo, who has dual French-Spanish nationality, on Sunday became the first female mayor of Paris, after winning 53.3 percent of the vote. Her opponent, conservative Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, took 44.06 percent at the polls.

It was one of the few pieces of good news for the Socialists, who took a battering nationwide at the elections

“I will be the mayor of all Parisians,” Hidalgo said after the confirmation of the result, which she described as “the victory of a left that is faithful to its values.” She went on to say that she was “conscious of the challenge presented by being the first female mayor of Paris.”

Hidalgo, who is 54, was born in San Fernando in Cádiz province, and is the descendant of Republicans exiled as a result of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Her family moved to France when she was still a child, and became a French national at the age of 14.

The politician was deputy mayor before running for her boss’s job, having been in charge of gender equality and later urban planning and architecture.