January’s French primaries for the left wing will see seven candidates battle it out to win the nomination for the 2017 presidential election.<br /><br /> The ruling Socialists have organised the January primaries. Four of its party members have made it on to the official list, in addition to two ecologists and a representative of the Radical Left Party. <br /><br /> Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister until earlier this month, is seen as the leading contender to win his party’s nomination.<br /><br /> He’ll be challenged, among others, by Arnaud Montebourg and Benoît Hamont, who each resigned from President François Hollande’s government over what they claimed was a too liberal economic policy.<br /><br /> Hollande, who polls as the most unpopular leader in France since the Second World War, announced in December that he wouldn’t stand for re-election.<br /><br /> Emmanuel Macron, a former economy minister under the current president, will not take part in the primaries but will instead make an independent bid.<br /><br /> Any French citizen who is willing to pay one euro and sign a declaration that they agree with the values of the left wing is able to take part in the vote for the left-wing candidate.<br />
