Green activist Hulot to run for presidency

A French television presenter and green activist announced on Wednesday that he hopes to run as an environmentalist candidate in next year's presidential election. Nicolas Hulot, aged-56, is the face of a long-running nature series, Ushuaia, on one of the country's most popular private networks. 

Reuters/Jacky Naegelen

Hulot says he wants to use the trust he has built among the French public to push for a new type of politics.

He had previously considered taking part in France's 2007 presidential race before dropping out, and his candidacy has angered many in the green movement and on the left who are suspicious of Hulot's cordial relationship with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, They are also critical of the connections between the Ushuaia brand -- in which he has an interest -- and big business.

But in his announcement Hulot aligned himself rhetorically with the Left, saying he supported wealth redistribution and criticised the "opaque world of finance" and "unfettered capitalism".

Hulot has not said whether he intends to stand in the Europe-Ecology primary to seek the party's formal endorsement, or to stand as an independent at the risk of splitting the green vote.