--- title: French President François Hollande May Not Stand for Re-Election description: France’s President François Hollande has said that he may not stand for re-election in 2017 if he fails to cut unemployment by the end of his term. canonical: https://time.com/3571538/france-president-francois-hollande-unemployment-re-election/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-07T09:00:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:17:54.184Z article:section: World og:title: François Hollande Eyes Tackling Unemployment og:description: He will only seek a new term if jobless rate falls og:url: https://time.com/3571538/france-president-francois-hollande-unemployment-re-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt518eaa412ce27796/6987679c0b72e360b56dbc93/france-president-holl_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: France President Hollande og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: François Hollande Eyes Tackling Unemployment twitter:description: He will only seek a new term if jobless rate falls twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt518eaa412ce27796/6987679c0b72e360b56dbc93/france-president-holl_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # French President François Hollande May Not Stand for Re-Election by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Nov 7, 2014 9:00 AM CUT  French President François Hollande poses on a TV set prior to the start of a French channel TF1 broadcast show, in Aubervilliers, outside Paris, on Nov. 6, 2014 French President François Hollande poses on a TV set prior to the start of a French channel TF1 broadcast show, in Aubervilliers, outside Paris, on Nov. 6, 2014Martin Bureau—AP by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Nov 7, 2014 9:00 AM CUT France’s President François Hollande said Thursday that he may not [stand](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29939750 "undefined") for re-election in 2017 if he fails to cut unemployment by the end of his term. “If I cannot manage it by the end of my term in office, do you really think I would go before the French in 2017?” he said in a televised interview with French TV channel TF1. Hollande admitted that it was a mistake to promise that he could bring down the rise in joblessness, which currently stands at 11%. But the 60-year-old vowed to “go to the end” to reform France’s weak economy. A poll released Thursday shows the Socialist Party leader has an approval rating of just 12%. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3571538/france-president-francois-hollande-unemployment-re-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3571538/france-president-francois-hollande-unemployment-re-election/"},"headline":"French President François Hollande May Not Stand for Re-Election","datePublished":"2014-11-07T09:00:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:17:54.184Z","description":"He cites his failure to temper the nation's spiraling unemployment during his term in office","url":"https://time.com/3571538/france-president-francois-hollande-unemployment-re-election/","keywords":["France","François Hollande","Economy","Unemployment","President","2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt518eaa412ce27796/6987679c0b72e360b56dbc93/france-president-holl_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt518eaa412ce27796/6987679c0b72e360b56dbc93/france-president-holl_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"France President Hollande","caption":"France President Hollande","creditText":"Martin Bureau—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3571538/france-president-francois-hollande-unemployment-re-election/","name":"French President François Hollande May Not Stand for Re-Election"}}]}] ```