Municipal elections in France: the far right falters and the left holds on in Paris, Lyon and Marseille
Conservative Rachida Dati is defeated in the duel with the left-hander in the French capital
ParisThe left—despite party divisions—is holding its ground in major cities, while Marine Le Pen's far right has faltered. The French municipal elections have resulted in a map with more far-right mayoralties than ever before, but the National Rally (RN) has not achieved the electoral success it had hoped for. In many municipalities where the far-right candidate had managed to advance to the second round, it ultimately failed to win. The results—still provisional—show that the far right, with some exceptions, is struggling to surpass the 50% threshold and continues to struggle to gain traction in major cities. This is a setback for Le Pen, who had aimed to win in Marseille. According to the initial results, the RN has not won in either Nîmes or Toulon, two cities that were within its reach and which it had expected to win. In large and medium-sized cities, the far right is securing few victories. He retained the mayoralty in Perpignan (Louis Aliot had already won in the first round) and won in Carcassonne and Nice, although the Nice candidate, Éric Ciotti, is not from Marine Le Pen's party, only an ally.
Historically, the National Rally (RN) has had very little local presence, resulting in less power in city councils than the party holds in the National Assembly. Furthermore, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella's party had reached out to the right to forge alliances and combine lists for the second round in cities where they had a chance of winning, but in most municipalities, conservative candidates rejected the alliance with the far right. This has worked against their municipal aspirations.
Nevertheless, these are the party's best results ever in a municipal election and demonstrate an advance in the far-right vote, which could secure a record number of councilors in the new city councils. Le Pen and Jordan Bardella's party confirms its popularity, especially in southeastern France and some areas of the north.
Paris, a victory for the left
The three major French cities – Paris, Marseille, and Lyon – will remain in the hands of left-wing parties. In Paris, the Socialists retain power with Emmanuel Grégoire, who succeeds fellow Socialist Anne Hidalgo, mayor of the capital for the past twelve years. According to initial projections, the battle at the polls between the left and the right was less close than predicted in pre-election polls. The victory went to the unified left-wing candidate – Socialists, Greens, and Communists – with 50% of the vote, compared to the right-wing candidate, former conservative minister Rachida Dati, who only obtained 41%, according to projections. The third candidate in the race for mayor of Paris, Sophia Chikirou of La France Insoumise, is estimated to have received less than 9% of the vote. "Paris has decided to remain true to its history," said Grégoire.
For Dati, who left the government to become mayor of Paris, the results represent a major setback. The conservative, who faces several corruption trials, had the support of the entire center-right—including President Macron—and the right wing. Furthermore, the far-right candidate Sarah Knafo (Reconquest) withdrew from the second round to facilitate Rachida Dati's victory.
Bicycle celebration
Grégoire, 48, who was Hidalgo's right-hand man until 2017 at the Paris City Hall, celebrated the victory tonight on a bicycle. Escorted by motorcycle police, the new mayor of Paris rode from the polling station where the Socialists followed the vote count to City Hall. Grégoire previously served as the city's Urban Planning Councillor and spearheaded a plan to calm traffic in the city.
The left also emerged victorious in the other two major cities. In Lyon, the Green Party's Grégory Doucet, mayor since 2020, was re-elected with nearly 51% of the vote, defeating his right-wing opponent, Jean-Michel Aulas (48.9%), a businessman and former president of Olympique Lyonnais, according to preliminary results. In Marseille, where the far right had hoped to win, the socialist Benoît Payan, the left-wing unity candidate, will be re-elected as mayor. Payan obtained more than 54% of the vote, well ahead of the National Rally candidate, Franck Allisio, who only garnered 40%.
Left-wing division
The left faced the municipal elections divided: while the Socialists, Greens, and Communists had presented a single candidate in most municipalities from the first round, La França Insubmisa (France Unsubmiss) had fielded its own candidates. For the second round, in many municipalities—but not all—there were mergers of lists or withdrawals of candidates to avoid fragmenting the left-wing vote, and this facilitated victory for left-wing candidates in a number of town halls. La França Insubmissà, for its part, was less successful running independently, although it did win mayoralties in cities like Roubaix and Saint-Denis. Overall, 93 of the 288 largest French municipalities remain in the hands of the right, and 50 are for the left. The Macronists—with little local presence—won in 28 of the municipalities, while the far right won in only 9 of the 288 largest.
