PARIS (dpa-AFX) – After the local elections in France, the parties are turning their attention to next year’s presidential election. The results from the cities and municipalities can only be read to a limited extent as a mood test for the national level, but they will play a central role in the internal camp power struggles that will now follow.
The Socialists, who defended the mayor’s office in the two largest cities, Paris and Marseille, emerged from the election slightly strengthened. Marine Le Pen’s right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) made gains, but ultimately missed the victory that was believed to be within reach in several major cities. The left-wing camp is also likely to be disillusioned about the election outcome.
On the evening of the election, RN leader Jordan Bardella spoke of the “beginning of a change of power” that would soon also be carried out at the national level, despite his party’s failure to achieve its goals. The leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), Manuel Bompard, also called on French people to join his left-wing party with a view to the presidential election. The head of the conservatives, Bruno Retailleau, emphasized his ambitions for the presidency and called for a radical break, thereby indirectly speaking out against a common candidate from the center-right camp.
Parties draw lessons for presidential elections
When a new head of state is elected next spring, President Emmanuel Macron will no longer be able to run after two terms in office. So who will succeed him? In surveys, Le Pen and her political foster son Jordan Bardella receive the most support for a candidacy. The political left and the center-right camp are still unsorted. Now the debates are likely to pick up speed.
Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe defended his mayoral post in Le Havre, thereby positioning himself well as a potential presidential candidate from the political center. Former Prime Minister François Bayrou, on the other hand, narrowly lost in Pau. Although he himself was not said to want to become head of state, his poor performance could mean that his voice is losing weight among the centrist forces.
Within the left bloc, the socialists could claim a leadership role. There will also be intensive discussions about whether socialists, communists and Greens want to join forces with the sometimes populist LFI. According to projections, in several cities such as Limoges and Besançon, where the parties joined forces with the LFI, it was not enough to win. In Lille and Rennes, however, the other left-wing parties did not form an alliance with the LFI and won.
Right-wing nationalists had hoped for more
Le Pen described the result overall as an “immense victory”. But the RN’s move forward is certainly also due to the fact that the right-wing nationals fell short of their expectations despite individual gains. In the first round of voting, their list led by Franck Allisio landed just behind the previous mayor Benoît Payan in the second largest French city, Marseille. Taking control of the port city would have been an enormous success for the right-wing populists. But according to the projections, they clearly missed out on winning there.
Even in Nîmes and Toulon, where Le Pen’s party had hopes, it only managed second place. In Nice, Eric Ciotti, a non-party ally of the right-wing nationalists, ended up in the lead.
The LFI is also likely to be disappointed with the election outcome. Although she clearly won in Roubaix in northern France, the left-wing lists in Lille and Toulouse, according to projections, missed the hoped-for first place. The Socialists recorded important victories not only in Marseille, but also in the embattled capital Paris with leading candidate Emmanuel Grégoire. The Greens, on the other hand, who scored impressive victories six years ago, will probably lose the city hall in Strasbourg, but according to projections were able to hold on in Lyon.
According to the renowned polling institute Ipsos, local issues were crucial for almost nine out of ten voters in the local elections. A good 40 percent also found the political and economic situation at the national level to be decisive. Nevertheless, local and national voting sometimes differs, also because some parties such as the Rassemblement National and Macron’s Renaissance are still rather poorly anchored in the municipalities./rbo/DP/zb
