France: Prime Minister Valls resigns, declares himself a candidate for the presidency 0

France’s Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has resigned to declare himself a candidate for the presidency in an attempt to save the Socialist Party from a humiliating exit from elections next spring.

Mr Valls, 54, a reformist, launched his bid to win party primaries just four days after François Hollande announced he would not seek re-election next May.

Speaking in Evry, the gritty Paris suburb where he was long mayor, he said: “Yes, I’m candidate for the presidency.”

Culled from the Telegraph