The French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared his bid to become the Socialist candidate for next year’s presidential election.<br /><br /> His move follows last week’s decision by the unpopular President Hollande not to seek a second term in office.<br /><br /> The 54-year-old said he was outraged at the left’s poor prospects at the election as suggested by poll ratings and infighting.<br /><br /> “The time, yes, time, has come to go further in my commitment. Statesmanship leads me to decide that I can no longer be Prime Minister while at the same time being candidate. In total agreement with the President of the Republic, I will resign from my role from tomorrow because I want to offer the French people a path in complete freedom,” Valls said to applause from supporters in the Paris suburb of Evry, where he was mayor for over a decade.<br /><br /> The prime minister’s tough rhetoric on law and order and business-friendly economic stance make him unpopular with the left of his party.<br /><br /> Although he is seen as favourite to win the Socialist nomination at the party’s primaries next January, Valls may face an uphill struggle to reach the run-off of the presidential election itself next spring.<br /><br /> Opinion polls suggest the final showdown is likely to be fought between conservative candidate François Fillon and the anti-establishment National Front leader Marine Le Pen – although such surveys have proved to be wrong more than once in recent elections.<br />
