French Prime Minister Manuel Valls today threw his hat in the ring to succeed Francois Hollande in next year's presidential election.
"I am a candidate for the presidency of the Republic," the 54-year-old said, announcing he would step down as prime minister tomorrow to fight for the Socialist nomination in a primary in January.
"My candidacy is one of reconciliation," said Valls, saying he wanted to "bring together" the bitterly divided French left following Hollande's announcement last week that he would not be a candidate.
"The time has come to go further in my (political) commitment," Valls said.
The leftwing primary takes place on January 22 and 29.
However polls shows that while Valls would win that contest, he would finish behind far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and the rightwing candidate Francois Fillon in the first round of the presidential election in April, failing to make the runoff.
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