France, from Macron to Trotskyite Arthaud: who are the 12 presidential candidates?

PARIS – Twelve candidates in the first round of the presidential election in France which will take place on Sunday. All have collected the 500 signatures of local elected officials necessary to deposit the candidacy to the Council. Women have doubled compared to 2017: four candidates (Le Pen, Pécresse, Hidalgo, Arthaud). Five years ago, eleven candidates were in the running. Since 1965 and the introduction of direct universal suffrage in the Fifth Republic, the record dates back to 2002 with sixteen candidates.