Senior civil servant Lucie Castets, 37, has been selected by the four main groups that make up the left-wing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) for the role of prime minister.
It comes after various internal candidates from parties within the NFP were vetoed.
Ms Castets is not affiliated to any party and has never been elected.
She is a graduate of the elite Ecole Nationale d'Administration, which, until it was closed in 2021, represented a long-term bugbear for the left due to its perception as being dominated by students from privileged backgrounds destined for senior roles in the French administration.
Fellow graduates include President Macron, former prime minister Edouard Philippe and former socialist president François Hollande.
“She has had a remarkable career in the service of the state and local authorities, with strong commitments to tax justice and the fight against tax evasion", Arnaud Bontemps (with whom she co-founded Nos Services publics) told AFP. "She is a person who is very committed to schools, hospitals and social justice."
Ms Castets currently works in the finance and budget department for the City of Paris - a position which has led to much mocking by opposition politicians. Comments so-far include: “Administrative and Financial Director of the City of Paris! A city that is almost bankrupt! That's all the Nouveau Front Populaire has to offer?” and “The City of Paris' projected deficit for the end of 2023 is €8.2 billion…”
See her career to date below.
Visactu / The Connexion
Ms Castets accepted her nomination as the NFP’s candidate with a social media post, promising to put all of her “energy and belief into the role”
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"I am ready, we are ready,” she told FranceInter on July 24 “I ask the President of the Republic to take responsibility and appoint me prime minister."
